


Bittersweet Fuse: Escape with you

by MakotoNoTachibanana (IhaveFiveKidswithAsamiRyuichiInmyFantasy)



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Bromance, F/M, Fushimi is just worried, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Puzzles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-05-12 20:40:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5679985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IhaveFiveKidswithAsamiRyuichiInmyFantasy/pseuds/MakotoNoTachibanana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Green King is bored. Hostages were taken. Seven heroes were chosen.<br/><em>"It seems like an incident happened here ages ago. Many people were taken as hostages and seven people were asked to play deadly games. I was curious how it ended so I went the trouble of inviting all of you to create our own ending of the story."</em><br/>Based from Sweet Fuse. Post Missing Kings.<br/>Sarumi, minor Serizumo, Yata & Kamamoto bromance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue of a Storm

_August 11, 20XX_

It was a pleasant day. Clattering and buzzing noise of people rushing for lunch filled the air of Shizume City. Walking here and there, people minding their own business for it was a busy day. Truly, it is a busy day for _all of them_.

Members of the Red Clan, HOMRA, were busy running bout the city searching for people... searching for their missing comrades.

 _Clang! Clang! Clang!_ The bell on the door of Bar HOMRA rang repeatedly as the door was violently swung open.

"Kusanagi-san!" entered Yata. He was breathing heavily and sweating buckets due to hours of running around the city accompanied by the sweltering and merciless heat of summer. "Did any of them contacted you yet?" Kusanagi, who was standing behind the bar counter, frowned and shook his head in response. "How about you, Anna?" Yata turned to the little girl kneeling on the floor with a map of the city and bright red marbles in front of her. "Any results?"

Anna shook her head without looking up to face Yata and instead, focused more on her marbles which were going crazy, moving on random directions instead of their usual circling pattern.

Yata clutched his skateboard tighter on his side and clenched his jaw. " _Goddamn it!"_ He cursed out loud in mixture of frustration and worry as he threw his metal rod on the floor.

Kusanagi cringed at the thought of the possible damage done on the floor by Yata's action. Normally, he would've reprimanded Yata right then and there but he understand how the Yata feels.

"I'll go look around the city again!" Yata ran out of the bar, leaving his weapon behind.

Kusanagi sighed and went back to fiddling his PDA, trying to get any information concerning their missing comrades through his connections.

* * *

 

HOMRA's problem started with a strain causing trouble in their territory. It was decided that Dewa, Chitose, and Bandou would subdue the strain. Three days went by without the three returning but any worry was dismissed by thinking they were just taking their sweet time subduing the strain. Two more days went by without any of them contacting nor showing any sign of returning so Fujishima and Shohei were sent to look for them. The clansmen of HOMRA started to grow more alarmed when three days passed without Fujishima or Shohei returning since they were sent to look for their missing comrades.

* * *

 

" _Shit!_ " Yata cursed as he kicked the road to add more speed to his skateboard. "I'm going to fucking beat them to a pulp if they're only fooling around!" He swore as he looked left and right. " Wait. Is that?" He came to a halt when he spotted a familiar cap lying on the road from afar. Yata kicked the road and sped towards the object.

"It really is Shohei's." He said as he picked up the cap with HOMRA's insignia on it from the road. Finding a lead, Yata immediately dialed Kusanagi's number. He looked around and saw that he was in front of what seemed like an amusement park. "The Gameatorium?" He read at the sign. "Is this place new?" He looked around more and noticed green electricity crawling on the walls of the park.

 _"Yata-chan?"_ Kusanagi's voice rang from Yata's watch. _"Did you find them?"_

"No but I found Shohei's cap." Yata answered while he continued to look around to find any more leads.

* * *

 

"Good work." Kusanagi sighed in relief. _'Finally, a lead.'_ "Where did you find it?"

 _"I'm still at the place where I found it. This place is suspicious, Kusanagi-san."_ Yata answered from the other end of the line. _"This is the first time I saw this place. From the look of the entrance, I think it's an am-"_

 _"Yata Misaki-chan?"_  Kusanagi heard a somewhat familiar voice say Yata's name from the other line. _"YOU!! AAAAARGH!"_ Yata suddenly screamed in pain and was followed my a loud thud.

"Yata-chan?! Yata-chan?! Yata! What happened?!" Kusanagi screamed on his PDA. Hearing a beep, he removed it from his ear and saw that the line was cut off. He turned to Anna and Eric who looked worried and alarmed. "Yata-chan was attacked." He said causing Anna to silently gasp. _'What the hell is going on?'_ "With many of our  members missing, I'm afraid we have to ask the Blues for assistance." He continued as he stared at Anna's marbles which were still going on random directions above Shizume City's map.

* * *

 

Awashima sighed as she shoved her PDA back to the pocket of her uniform. "Fushimi, did you find any lead?" She asked to their third-in-command, who was standing in front of the door, holding a tablet.

"Not yet." Fushimi simply answered.

"How was it?" Munakata suddenly asked, pertaining to the call Awashima received, as he stood up from his seat and went towards the bookshelves.

"It seems many of the Red Clan's clansmen are also missing." Awashima reported.

"How many of them?"

"Dewa Masaomi, Chitose You, and Bandou Saburota who were after a strain went missing 8 days ago. Fujishima Kosuke and Akagi Shohei who went to search for them went missing 3 days ago. And just now, their vanguard, Yata Misaki aka Yatagarasu was attacked after finding a lead and is now assumed missing."

Munakata turned to Fushimi to find any changes in his demeanor but only saw his usual unconcerned and bored expression.

"In total, 6 of their core members are missing." Awashima concluded.

"A strain..." Munakata trailed off.

"Yes. From the sound of it, it's the same strain our officers were trying to subdue before going M.I.A." Awashima was about to add more when their PDAs rang simultaneously. They looked at each other before fishing out their PDAs from their pockets and answering it. A video feed popped out and it seemed like the three of them received the same feed.

 _"Greetings, vassals of the Red, Blue, and Silver Sanctum."_ A green bird that was standing on a throne spoke.

 _"Hi, Kuroh-chan."_ A flashy purple-headed man whom they remembered as Mishakuji Yukari, a vassal of the Green King, waved as he sat down on the right arm of the throne.

 _"I am the Green and Fifth King, Hisui Nagare."_ The bird continued. _"I am glad to see you all well but that is not the reason why I contacted you. I would like to invite certain clansmen to participate in a game that I will host. From the Silver clan, Yatogami Kuroh. From the Red clan, Kamamoto Rikio and Kusanagi Izumo. And lastly, from the Blue clan, Fushimi Saruhiko, Awashima Seri and of course, the Blue King, Munakata Reisi. I also wanted to invite the Red King but it seems like she's still unable to control her aura completely. It's truly a shame."_

 _"To the clansmen Nagare-chan invited,"_  Yukari stood up. _"You can refuse to participate in the game but I wouldn't suggest that. That is if you don't care about your fellow clansmen."_ The camera turned to the right and showed an unconscious Yata chained to a pillar and the missing vassals of the different clans inside a huge cage. _"Just one of you refuse and BAM. The cage will explode then you can collect their remains."_ Yukari walked into view. _"We will send you the coordinates of the location after a few minutes. And a small reminder to the participants, do not bring anyone else. Well then, we will wait for you arrival."_ He smiled and the feed cut off.

"Captain!" Awashima turned to her king.

"For now, let us wait for the coordinates." Munakata calmly said as he adjusted his eyeglasses.

Few minutes later, the coordinates of the location where the games will be held was sent to their PDA from Jungle.

"Fushimi-kun." Munakata turned to Fushimi who was still standing in front of the door. "Try to get a street view of the location."

As soon as the order was given, Fushimi enlarged the map with the coordinates that was sent to them. Satisfied with the size of the map, he tapped the encircled point expecting to get a street view but what he got instead was an electric shock. Green electricity was sent to him from his PDA and the map started to get static.

"Are you alright, Fushimi?!" Awashima worriedly asked to her subordinate who groaned in pain.

"Awashima-kun. Fushimi-kun." Munakata addressed the two. "Prepare to subdue the Green clan."

 


	2. Game Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: We all know that I do not own K nor Sweet Fuse but boy, I wish I do.

_The Gameatorium_

Kusanagi stared at the words engraved on the metal arc above the gate entrance of what seemed like an amusement park. He kept on wracking his brain trying to remember any information about this Gameatorium but remembered none.

"Kusanagi-san." Kamamoto, who's currently suffering from summer fatigue, called to the older man's attention. "Can't we just raid this place? If we ask for the Blue King's help, I'm sure we can..." He trailed, looking out for Kusanagi's reaction on the thought of asking for the Blue King's help. He knows that Kusanagi didn't hold any grudges against Munakata but he couldn't be so sure.

"I already asked for their help." Kusanagi turned to his companion. "Besides, we can't just attack without any plan. Look closely at this place."

Kamamoto looked skeptical but still walked closer to the wall and saw green electricity crawling on it. "This is..." He mumbled then turned to the metal arc above and saw green electricity crawling on it too.

Kusanagi walked and stopped beside him. "This is clearly their domain and we don't know anything about this place. It's like this place appeared out of nowhere." He said.

"Now that you say it, Kusanagi-san. I was in this area few days ago and never saw this place." Kamamoto walked closer to the wall.

"What are you doing?" A new voice came from behind them halting Kamamoto from trying to touch the wall. He immediately whipped his head turning to the source of the voice and saw Yatogami Kuroh. "Black Dog! You surprised me!" Kamamoto breathed a sigh of relief as he placed his right hand on his chest.

"I thought you'll refuse." Kusanagi lit a cigarette and took a drag.

"They have Neko." Kuroh simply answered.

Kamamoto looked like he wanted to ask something but the gates of the park opened and a man wearing a black helmet greeted them. "You're taking too long. The Blue King and his company are already here." The man spoke. "Follow me." He added and walked inside after making sure the three were following him.

* * *

 

The three were led inside a room. The man who guided them there left after saying, "Wait here." Kusanagi and Kamamoto sat on the chairs situated on the middle of the room while Kuroh stood near the door.

"You said they have the cat woman..." Kamamoto spoke up, breaking the silence. "Aren't you always together?" He asked. It was supposed to be an innocent question but the way Kuroh tensed up suggested something. That was also the moment Kamamoto noticed the fading yellowish bruise on Kuroh's right cheek. "Did you fight the strain?!" He abruptly stood up.

"Strain? What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean what am I talking about?" Kamamoto's expression contorted into utter confusion. "Didn't you get defeated by the strain who took the cat woman? I mean, our missing members were after a strain." He paused taking in Kuroh's confused look. "Wait. Does that mean they didn't encounter the strain?"

"There's no strain involved, Kamamoto." Kusanagi finally spoke. "The Green clan planned all of this."

"That's right. There is no strain. We were attacked by Mishakuji Yukari." Kuroh revealed.

Kamamoto was about to say more when he felt his head grow heavy and suddenly slumped down on the floor unconscious.

"Kamamoto!" Kusanagi immediately stood up and went over to his comrade. He quickly checked his pulse on his wrist and neck then turned to Kuroh who looked alarmed, his sword already drawn. "He's just unconscious." He turned back to Kamamoto but suddenly felt his head grow heavy. He turned back to Kuroh and barked orders. "Yatogami! Open the door! There's sleeping gas!"

Kuroh ran towards the door and promptly swung his sword. Green electricity, which he failed to notice before swinging, crawled on his sword and electrocuted him, making him fall on his knee. He stood up shakily and put back his sword in its sheath. And with shaky hands and head growing heavy, he swung again. Just like the first time, electricity crawled on his sheathed sword and electrocuted him as he struggled to keep standing. "Yatogami, move!" A shout came from behind him. He glanced at Kusanagi just in time to see him flick the fire on his lighter, sending a fireball to his direction. Kuroh dodged to the side avoiding the incoming attack but the fire barely connected to its target. It dissipated as Kusanagi fell unconscious on the floor having breathed in too much fume. Kuroh tried to stand straighter and grip Kotowari better but darkness took better hold of his consciousness.

* * *

 

A familiar screaming voice was what pulled Kamamoto out of unconciousness. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of a magnificent room that looked like a banquet hall of a renaissance castle.

"You bastard, what did you do to us?!" Yata screamed profanities at Mishakuji Yukari, who was sitting on a throne and filing his nails, effectively ignoring him.

"Kusanagi-san, why is Yata-san here? What did they do to us?" Kamamoto voiced his questions to Kusanagi who was standing in front of him.

"Good. You're awake." Kusanagi turned to him. "As for the answer to your questions, they brought Yata-chan here spitting and kicking just awhile ago. It seems like they also injected an aura suppressant to us while we were unconscious."

"That's right." A new voice joined the conversation. A child with greyish purple hair, who looked around 12-15 years old, holding a metal pole entered the room while wheeling a man with dark green, messy short hair wearing a teal colored straight jacket. "We injected aura suppressants to you guys. It will take about 2 weeks for it to leave your system." The boy continued.

"Sukuna-chan, Nagare-chan, you're late!" Yukari pocketed his nail file. "I was getting bored with this small ball of profanities here!"

"Say that again, you sissy man!" Yata promptly yelled at Yukari but was ignored.

"Good. You're all awake... and energetic." The man on the wheelchair turned to Yata while saying the last part. "I am Hisui Nagare. The Fifth and Green King. Welcome to The Gameatorium." The man, Nagare, introduced himself and added, "I would like to explain the seven rules of our game."

"You think I'll obediently follow you?!" Yata yelled, his anger never quelling. "There's no way I'll cooperate with you nor the Blues!"

"We have hostages." The boy, Sukuna, said as he placed his hands on the back of his head which made Yata to growl at him.

"Where are the hostages?" Awashima asked, breaking the Blues' silence.

"Mishakuji Yukari!" Kuroh called Yukari's name. "Where is my Kotowari?!"

"That's brother for you, Kuroh-chan." The flashy man stood up and walked over to stand beside Nagare. "But do not worry. I'm taking good care of Kotowari. Same goes for the Blue clan's swords." He then turned to his king. "Nagare-chan, should I?" He asked and Nagare gave a nod. Yukari walked behind the throne and pulled down the velvet red curtain revealing the huge metal cage that house the vassals of different clans. They were screaming and pounding the cage but no sound escaped it.

"I would like to continue my explanation." Nagare paused then continued. "Once a day you'll risk your lives to challenge one of the attractions here. That's the game."

Fushimi clicked his tongue. He didn't sign up for this shit.

"Now, the first rule: the time limit for each game is seven hours." Nagare continued. "Second rule: you may not harm me nor my vassals. Any harm inflicted to us will cost the hostages' lives." Sukuna then flashed a button switch with a cheeky grin. "Third rule: you are solely responsible for any danger you might find yourselves in."

"What do I expect?" Yata muttered.

"Fourth rule: if you can't beat a game, then that attraction blows up. Fifth rule: all communication with the outside is expressly verboten. The sixth rule is, of course, you're not allowed to escape. And the last rule is that if you break any of the rules, the hostages will blow up."

"You son of a bitch!" Yata screamed, losing his temper once more.

"Calm down, you stupid punk." Fushimi said with irritation lacing his voice. 

"Mind your own business, you fucking monkey! I'm about to introduce my fist to him!" Yata started to stalk towards Nagare but Kamamoto quickly locked his arms under Yata's armpits effectively restraining him.

"Calm down, Yata-san!" Kamamoto said as he tried his best to keep Yata from attacking.

"Stop it, Yata-chan. The rules prevent us from harming him. Remember the hostages, they will be killed." Kusanagi tried to reason him. It did stop Yata from attacking but it didn't calm his nerves.

"Damn it!" Yata swore and shook off Kamamoto, slamming his fist into a nearby pillar.

"What are your motives?" The Blue King, Munakata, stepped forward.

"It seems like an incident happened his ages ago." Nagare started. "Many people were taken as hostages and seven people were asked to play deadly games. I was curious how it ended so I went the trouble of inviting all of you to make our own ending of the story."

"So you're saying we're here about to risk our lives just because you're curious?" Fushimi asked though it sounded more of a statement than a question especially with his voice laced with a mixture of irritation and tiredness.

"That's right." Sukuna laughed. "You're all here because we're bored."

"You crazy fuckers!" Yata raised and balled his fist. "I'll beat your skinny asses and we'll see how amused you'll be!"

"Let's see you try." Sukuna grinned as he twirled the metal pole he's holding. Green aura crawled to the top of the pole and a blade started to materialize making the pole into a scythe.

"Will you stop it already." Kuroh grabbed Yata's shoulder. "Stop falling for their provocations. Remember, this is their domain and they have hostages. We're at a clear disadvantage."

"We can't use our aura to boot it." Kamamoto added.

"Aw. Giving up?" Sukuna continued to provoke Yata but the teenager just lowered his fist and scowled at the boy.

Placing her left hand on her hip, Awashima said, "So we have to play this game if we want you to release the hostages?"

"Yes." Yukari answered. "There will be lots of puzzles for you to figure out, so I hope you're ready to work together and solve them."

"And the ones we can't beat will be blown up?" Kamamoto nervously asked.

"Yes. You'll be blown up along with the attraction, so please do be careful."

"For real?!"

"If you can't beat it, then you can't get out, and if you can't get out..." Sukuna laughed at the thought of what he was implying.

"Well, this wouldn't be exciting if your lives aren't in danger." Yukari added.

"Goddamn sick fuckers." Yata muttered.

"Well, now that we've finished going over the rules," Nagare said. "I think it's about time we start today's game."

"Finally getting started, huh?" Kusanagi sighed.

"Yukari." Nagare called and Yukari nodded then said, "This theme park is divided into seven themed areas. Today's game celebrates the world of RPGs. Let's move everyone!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for updating so late. I was just being lazy but, I made it. Anyway, this was supposed to be a long chapter but I decided to cut it in half so that for one chapter is one game. Hope you enjoyed reading. Will update soon... I think.  
> I apologize for any typographical and grammatical error.


	3. Stage I: Samurai Fantasy VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start, let's play a guessing game! I will give you job classes and I want you cast the characters/players to them!  
> The player: Munakata Reisi, Awashima Seri, Fushimi Saruhiko, Kusanagi Izumo, Yata Misaki, Kamamoto Rikio, Yatogami Kuroh  
> The job classes: Monk, Mage, Hunter, Bard, Ninja, Priestess, Warrior.  
> Read through and let's see if we came up with the same casting! :D
> 
> +I find it hard to manage seven, and sometimes more, characters. Lol
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own K nor Sweet Fuse. Too bad.

“This theme park is divided into seven themed areas. Today’s game celebrates the world of RPGs. Let’s move, everyone!”

A man wearing a black helmet appeared to guide them and set off for the RPG attraction Yukari indicated.

No one spoke as they followed the green vassal through the park. Their footsteps heavy and slow as everyone’s assessing the situation they’re in.

“Kusanagi-san, I won’t cooperate these Blues. I’m sure we can do this without them.” Yata finally broke the silence.

“Hah!” Fushimi snorted. “As if your brain can answer the puzzles here, you drop out.”

“Say that again, bastard!” Yata grabbed Fushimi’s collar, slightly pulling him down. “If you can’t remember, you dropped out with me!”

Munakata then cleared his throat. “It is clear that unless we can complete this game, the hostages will die, Yatagarasu-kun.”

“Che.” Yata spat as he released Fushimi.

The group halted in front of an Edo period castle with a sign on it. The gate looked like one from a European castle but the towers that rose up behind it looked Japanese.

“It’s Samurai Fantasy VII!” Yata screamed as he saw the castle.

“You know the game, Yata-chan?” Kusanagi took a drag from his cigarette that he lit along the way.

“Yeah!” Yata answered. “I played the game before. It’s about a party of adventurers who set out for Edo Palace. The castle and the country have been taken over by the nurarihyon, and the adventurers have to stop them.”

“So we have to defeat the nurarihyon?” Awashima asked which caused Yata to back away a bit, standing beside Kamamoto. “P-Probably.” He answered.

“Look at this.” Kuroh walked over to a statue of a pig with a cigar between its lips. “It has a screen on its stomach.”

As if on cue, the screen came to life and showed Yukari beside Nagare. “Welcome to the world of Samural Fantasy VII, everyone.” Nagare spoke. “Now, you must enter Edo Palace to defeat the evil nurarihyon who controls the country of Edo.”

“As you have already been informed, this quest will put your life in danger.” Yukari reminded them.

“You don’t need to tell us that every single time.” Kuroh said with irritation. “We remembered it the first time.”

“You never change, Kuroh-chan.” Yukari chuckled. “Anyway, unless the seven of you work together, you’ll never be able to finish this game.”

“That’s it then, Yatagarasu-kun.” Munakata turned to Yata. “You have to cooperate and work with us.”

“I got it already!” The teenager, who wasn’t blessed with the gift of height, almost choked on his words.

“Well then.” Nagare’s voice rang once again. “Please enter the castle. I wish you all the luck.” And the screen blinked out of life.

Munakata strode off toward the castle without waiting for the rest to follow. Awashima and Fushimi immediately flanked Munakata’s sides while Kuroh followed them behind.

“Let’s follow them.” Kusanagi told his comrades which they answered with a nod before following the others inside the castle.

Once inside the castle, Munakata spoke up. “Do all of you have your PDAs or watches?” He asked. They all nodded with the exception of Fushimi. Munakata then looked at his PDA. “Right now it’s noon on the dot.”

“We have seven hours to finish this game.” Kusanagi said.

“We must keep that time limit in mind.” Munakata continued. “Let us not let our guard down.”

The group looked around the room they entered at the end of the hallway. Just like the outside of the castle, the interior was also an odd mix of east and west but the room seemed to have a stronger European influence. In the center was a statue of a creepy-looking animal. There was also a large device with several panels next to the statue. Each panel had a silhouette of a person it. The doors to the left and right side of the room were bolted with chains across them- obviously to prevent them from going out.

“This room is creepy.” Yata hugged himself and rubbed his arms. “I sure hope we’re not going to get locked in here or something…” As if those were the magic words, the door behind the group swung shut as soon as the words left his mouth. “Just fucking great.” He said in defeat.

Fushimi immediately tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge open. “It’s locked.” He said to them. “You just had to say it, didn’t you?” He said turning to Yata.

“Calm down, Fushimi.” Awashima told her subordinate before a fight breaks out.

“Everybody, look for clues. We need to solve this puzzle if we want to get out.” Kusanagi ordered. “Every bit of time is precious.”

“Hey, don’t do anything rash.” Kuroh told Yata. “We need to think about this carefully.”

“I know that already!” Yata grunted before walking to the statue in the middle of the room. Then suddenly a voice spoke.

“Awaken to your destiny, and slay the demon nue. Fail to slay the nue, and die by its poison.”

“Huh? Think that was some kind of hint?” Kamamoto asked.

“A nue…” Kusanagi pondered.

“What’s a nue, Kusanagi-san?” Kamamoto turned to Kusanagi.

“A nue is a Japanese creature of myth and legend.”

“So how do we slay this nue?” Kuroh asked to no one in particular. With all of their eyes on the nue, something that looked sort of like smoke began to spill out of its mouth.

“What? What the heck is this?” Yata backed away from the statue.

“Everyone, get away from there!” Kusanagi ordered. His voice slightly muffled by the handkerchief he’d pressed over his mouth and nose. The rest clasped whatever they had on their faces.

“I-Is this poison gas?” Kamamoto nervously asked.

“It probably is.” Munakata answered.

By now, the smoke pouring out of the statue’s mouth was purple. Clearly, it wasn’t ordinary smoke.

“Smoke would have risen up.” Kusanagi said, “But this one is slowly spreading out over the floor.”

“’Fail to slay the nue, and die by its poison.” Awashima muttered.

“Guess we’ve figured out that part of the riddle.” Fushimi firmly pressed his handkerchief over his face.

“Whatever happens, we can’t just start running around.” Kusanagi moved slowly closer to Yata. “There is no place for the gas to go. If we move it too much, we might end up spreading it.”

“Then what the hell are we gonna do?!” The anger in Yata’s voice was muffled by his beanie that was firmly pressed on his face. “We’re gonna die if it fills the room!”

“Don’t shout, you idiot!” Fushimi told Yata in low anger. “We need to keep the air still!”

Yata flinched and stilled almost immediately.

“Calm down.” Kuroh told off the two. “Let’s quickly solve the puzzle.”

“Yatogami-kun is correct. The sooner we solve the puzzle, the sooner we get out.” Munakata agreed.

Slowly and carefully everyone made their way back to the statue which released gas slower.

“That things that voice said earlier sounded like a hint… Do any of you know what it might mean?” Awashima asked to everyone but mainly to Yata.

“’Awaken to your destiny, and slay the demon nue. Fail to slay the nue, and die by its poison.’” Kuroh repeated the words the voice said awhile ago.

“The latter part appears to be fairly straightforward.” Munakata told them. “Perhaps we should concentrate on the line which says ‘awaken to your destiny.’”

“I agree.” Kusanagi said. “But we still don’t know anything about this room. We need to look around some more.”

“Yeah. We don’t have a lot of time so why don’t we split up?” Kamamoto suggested.

Yata groaned. “Fine…”

The group agreed and split up. The Blue clan is to examine the statue while the Red clan is to examine the panels with the Black Dog.

“What do you think these silhouettes are supposed to represent?” Kuroh asked.”They look like fighters of some kind.”

Kamamoto took a closer look at the panels. Each one had a human-looking silhouette. One panel was lit up. “Yeah, they look like people… One of them has a sword; this one has a bow…”

“Do you have any idea, Yata-chan?” Kusanagi turned to Yata.

Yata took a closer look at the panels. “I think they look like the job classes from the game.”

“You’re right, Yata-san!” Kamamoto exclaimed at the man beside him. “There are names under each one. ‘Warrior,’ ‘Monk,’ ‘Mage’… Just like in RPGs!”

“One of them is lit up.” Kuroh pointed out.

“Yeah, the monk one.” Kamamoto said. “I wonder why it’s the only one lit up.”

“There has to be some sort of meaning to it.” Kusanagi rubbed his chin. “Yata-chan, you played the game this was based on, right? Give me a summary of it.”

“Sure.” Yata nodded. “The protagonist is a warrior who goes on an adventure and teams up with a bunch of other people. Eventually you have a full party of seven-“

“A party of seven! That must be what the panels are!” Kamamoto exclaimed interrupting Yata.

“But it still doesn’t answer why there’s only one lit up.” Kuroh walked closer to get a better look at the only lit panel.

“Anyway, we should report back to the other group and strategize. They must have found something by now.” Kusanagi suggested. The other three agreed and headed back toward the statue and the other team.

The group met up again and began to exchange information.

“…All right, let’s go over everything.” Kusanagi said. “The panels are the seven adventurers from Samurai Fantasy VII.”

“And the only one that is lit is the monk.” Kuroh added.

“There are five buttons on the nue.” Awashima said. “On the head, neck, leg, stomach, and tail.”

“Is that everything?” Munakata asked and the rest nodded.

“The panels and the statue must be… connected somehow. But what does ‘awaken to your destiny’ have to do with them?” Fushimi mumbled, talking to himself.

“What are you mumbling like crazy over there?” Yata turned to Fushimi.

Before Fushimi could even open his mouth to speak, Munakata spoke to him. “Why don’t you tell us your thoughts, Fushimi-kun?”

Fushimi stared at his king for a few seconds before sighing and speaking. “I think the panels and the statue are connected somehow but I still don’t understand their connection to ‘awaken to your destiny.’”

As everyone started to think further, the soft hiss of gas filled the silence.

“We have to do something soon or…” Kamamoto nervously broke the silence between them.

“Maaan.” Yata followed suit. “We’re not getting anywhere! I say we just go balls-out and hit one of those buttons.” He then started to walk towards the statue.

“W-Wait! Stop!” Kuroh yelled at Yata who was already in front of the statue and was mumbling which one to push.

Kamamoto dashed forward to try and stop Yata. He quickly encircled his arms around Yata, locking and restraining his arm. Yata started to struggle and tried to shake Kamamoto off him. All his struggling stopped when he caused Kamamoto to accidentally hit the button on the statue’s leg with his elbow. Everyone froze.

A bright chime echoed through the room as the light on the monk panel clicked off and the mage panel lit up.

“Huh. Now the mage one’s lit.” Kamamoto nervously pointed out.

“Ah! You’re right!” Yata exclaimed. “Ha! See? Just gotta go for it! What’re you all worried about anyway?” He laughed.

“You idiot! What would have happened if you were wrong?!” Fushimi lost his temper.

Yata was taken aback but quickly regained his flare. “But I’m not!”

Fushimi glared at Yata before sighing. “Why do I even bother?”

“Just don’t do that again, okay?” Kusanagi breathed. “I think it took a few years off my life.”

“…I’m sorry.” Yata apologized in a small voice.

“In the end, all is well.” Munakata smiled and moved closer to Yata.

Intimidated, Yata stepped backward and tripped on his own feet. In a moment of panic, he quickly planted his hand to whatever was near him… which was the statue. “…Fuck.” He swore as he slowly removed his hand that was firmly pressing the button on the nue’s stomach after steadying himself.

“Damn it! Misaki, what the hell?!” Fushimi rushed and grabbed Yata’s shirt.

“L-Let go of me!” Yata grabbed the arm holding his shirt. Kamamoto went over them and was about to help Yata when Kuroh suddenly spoke.

“Wait. Quiet down. I heard something.” He said.

“The mage panel!” Awashima called their attention. “It turned red!”

“What?” Kuroh turned to the panel.

“There’s more gas coming out of its mouth!” Fushimi moved away from the statue, pulling Yata with him, and slapped his hand to cover his face and everyone followed suit.

Kamamoto leapt away from the statue and indeed the gas pouring out its mouth is much faster now.

“You idiot! Do you realize what you just did? Were you even thinking?!” Fushimi turned to Yata once more.

“I-It was an accident!” Yata defended himself. “But I remembered something!”

“Say it quickly, Yata-chan!”

“Uh, in Samurai Fantasy VII, the nue is a boss somewhere around the middle of the game. There’s a sort of… trick to beating it. It’s weak against arrows, but you can’t hit it with an arrow unless you, uh, set up the attack first.” Yata would pause often. “First the monk hits the legs with a special attack. That stops it. Then your mage hits the tail, which keeps it from casting spells. Finally, you use the hunter to attack with his bow.”

“Monk, mage, hunter… There’s a panel for each one on here, right?” Kuroh asked to Kamamoto.

“O-Oh! Yes! So that’s why the monk panel was lit up!” Kamamoto said. “I got lucky and accidentally hit the right button. And now the mage one is lit up.”

“So when the stomach button was pushed incorrectly, the panel turned red.” Awashima stated.

“Based on what Yatagarasu-kun said, I think it’s safe to assume that the button we should push next is the tail.” Munakata walked closer to the group and Yata hesitantly nodded. “Very well, I shall push the button.

When Munakata pushed the button on the statue’s tail, a small chime sounded. “The red light on the mage’s panel has turned off.” Kusanagi breathed in relief. When the mage panel turned off, the hunter panel had lit up.

“It’s on the hunter now! You were right, Yata-san!” Kamamoto commended Yata.

“Good. Now there’s only one more button to push.” Kuroh patted Yata’s shoulder.

“The next button is the last one, but… which one is it?” Awashima asked. “Yata Misaki, where does the hunter attack this thing?”

Yata stepped closer beside Kamamoto and shook his head. “S-Sorry… I don’t remember.”

“So we’ve just have to guess?” Kuroh walked closer back to the statue. “If we get it wrong, the gas is going to fill up the room.”

“If I remember correctly,” Munakata spoke up. “In the Tale of Heike, Minamoto-no-Yorisama killed the nue with a bow passed down to him by Minamoto-no-Yorimitsu. That’s probably where the game got it. In ‘Minamoto’s Slaying of the Nue’ and Yoshitoshi’s ‘New Forms of 36 Monsters,’ the nue is shot in the neck.”

“Ah!” Yata exclaimed. “You’re right! I think it was the neck!”

“So the button on the neck is the next one we should press?” Kusanagi asked in confirmation.

“Yes.”

“All right. I will push the button.” As he spoke, Kamamoto leaned over and was about to press the button but Fushimi grabbed his wrist. “What?” Kamamoto asked.

“You are not the hunter.” Fushimi said as he let go of Kamamoto’s wrist.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kamamoto lowered his hand.

“Misaki said that in the Samurai Fantasy game, you have a party of seven people. They put seven panels here for the party and there are seven of us.”

“I’m getting what you mean.” Kusanagi said. “Each panel represents each one of us.”

“So if Kamamoto Rikio and Captain pushed the buttons earlier…” Awashima acknowledged the two. “Then they are the monk and the mage.”

“Is it because I specialize in hand-to-hand combat?” Kamamoto scratched the back of his head.

“Well, I can kind of see Captain as a mage.” Awashima mumbled.

“I believe then that we must take into account our style, personalities, and appearance.” Kuroh said.

“Then who’s the hunter?” Yata looked around.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Fushimi said to Yata with a snarky tone. “It’s Kusanagi-san.”

“Is it because of my fighting style?” He chuckled. “Well then…” He stood in front of the statue. Almost everyone held their breath as Kusanagi pressed the button on the neck. The ones who held their breath, breathed again when the flow of gas from the nue’s mouth stopped.

“Hey! Hey! The statue’s moving!” Yata pointed to the nue. It slid slowly to the side, revealing a staircase leading to a lower floor. As it did, a chime sounded and the hunter panel turned green. The thick gas quickly vanished into the vents that opened on the wall.

“Damn.” Kusanagi swore. “This is only the first puzzle and I’m already tired.”

Everyone was taking breather when a short tune played over the room’s speakers, followed by an announcement. “The Room of the Guardian has been completed. You have obtained a reward.”

“A reward?” Kuroh asked but before they could ponder what it meant, the base of the statue popped open.

Yata ran up to it and looked inside to find a chest that looked exactly like one you might find in a video game. “There’s a scroll.” Yata announced. He pulled it out of the chest and showed it to the others. “It looks like a map of this attraction. See, here’s the room we’re in.”

“There are two more rooms with puzzles in them.” Kamamoto groaned.

“The ‘Corridor of Hate’ and the ‘Room of the Supreme Ruler’” Awashima read the names of the room written on the scroll.

“Two more?” Kuroh asked. “This one took us two hours.”

“We better get moving then.” Kusanagi told them.

The group headed the stairs, toward the Corridor of Hate. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a long stone hallway. It was dark and gloomy, but there were torches mounted along the walls casting enough light to see by. The darkness would have been bad enough, but there were also bunch of what looked like demon heads on the walls.

“This place is creepy.” Yata scooted closer to Kusanagi.

“Creepy?” Fushimi asked to Yata in a mocking tone. “Why don’t you just say that you’re scared, huh, Mi~sa~ki~?”

“S-Shut up!” Yata raised his hand, and found its way on Kamamoto’s arm and squeezed it tight. “I-I’m not scared!”

“There’s a set of panels again.” Kusanagi said. “The one’s that’s lit up now… is the bard?”

“Are you sure, Kusanagi-san? Let me take a look.”Kamamoto walked closer to the panel with Yata who still wouldn’t let go of his arm. When they pushed toward the panel… “Whoa!” “Gah!” Something flew out of the left-hand wall at an incredible speed, sending Kamamoto and Yata toppling on the ground. They looked on the wall and saw an arrow embedded on it.

“Damn, that was close!” Yata exclaimed after pushing Kamamoto off of him.

“Have a look at the arrow.” Munakata said. “It’s too thick for a bow, don’t you think?”

Awashima narrowed her eyes to take a look, not chancing to walk closer to have another arrow fly out. “It’s a crossbow quarrel.”

“If you want to die that’s your business.” Fushimi glared at Kamamoto. “But I’d appreciate it if you could- just every now and then- look before you leap.”

Kamamoto glared back at Fushimi before crouching in front of Yata who was still sitting on the ground. “Are you okay, Yata-san?” He asked as he swiped the bead of sweat on Yata’s forehead causing Fushimi’s glare at him to grow more intense. Yata nodded and he continued. “Sorry about that.” Kamamoto stood up and offered his hand to Yata. Yata gratefully accepted it and was pulled up.

“It looks like each of these heads has a trap like that in it.” Kusanagi said as he walked closer to his comrades to make sure they’re alright. “Walk in front of one of those faces and you end up with a fancy new hole or two.” 

“Proceed with care through this hateful corridor. Give ear to the song of the demons, for they will be purified by the light that shines in the darkness.” A robotic voice suddenly announced.

“Thanks!” Yata sarcastically said. “Would have been nice to know we needed to ‘proceed with care’ before we’re just about to get skewered!”

“Now what in the bloody hell do they mean by ‘give ear to the song of the demons’? And what’s that ‘purification’ nonsense about?” Fushimi said under his breath.

Kuroh sighed. “Shall we start with ‘give ear to the song of the demons’?”

“Obviously, the ‘demons’ are those ugly bastards.” Yata pointed behind him with his thumb, his fear of the place already forgotten.

“That’s obvious, Yata-chan. We need more information.” Kusanagi paused. “I guess I hafta do this.” He edged toward the nearest head. Very, very carefully, he began to examine it.

“See anything, Kusanagi-san?” Kamamoto asked.

“Yeah. This fella’s got a little light on its forehead. I figured it’s some sort of sensor.” Kusanagi answered. “Time to put it to the test.” Yata almost tackled Kusanagi when he waved his hand in front of the demon’s nose, but no arrow came. “Relax.” He turned to Yata. “See? Long as you don’t trip the sensor, no arrow comes.”

“Say something first before you do that, Kusanagi-san!” Yata said in one breathing.

“Alright. I’ll do it again.” Kusanagi sighed and told everyone to step back. He waved his hand over the demon’s face again, this time in front of the sensor. Just like before, an arrow shot out of the demon’s mouth with blinding speed. “And there you have it.”

“Is your hand alright?” Awashima asked.

“Nothing to worry about, Seri-chan.” Kusanagi waved his hand. “Pulled my hand away at the last second.” 

Awashima glared at him because of the nickname. It was fine with her but not in front of her king.

“That’s fine, but there are a lot of these heads, and there’s no pattern to them. It would be impossible to avoid them all.” Kamamoto said.

“Huh? Did that…?” Kuroh mumbled.

“What is it, Yatogami-kun?” Munakata asked.

“… I thought I heard something from the demon’s mouth. It was really faint, like sort of a stretching noise.” Kuroh was still thinking and mumbling to himself when Awashima spoke.

“’Give ear to the song of the demon.’” She said. “The noise you heard might be the demon’s song.

“Can you still hear it?” Munakata asked.

Kuroh shook his head and said, “No.”

“So once the arrow fires, you can hear the noise for a little while then it stops?” Kamamoto asked.

“Maybe but I have just been imagining it. The rest of you couldn’t hear it?” Kuroh looked at them one by one.

“We may not have, but there is an easy way to determine it.” Everyone turned to Munakata. “Perhaps we should fire another arrow?”

“A’right. Yatogami, raise your hand when you hear the noise then drop it when it stops.” Kusanagi told him.

“I understand.” Kuroh nodded.

“Good. I’ll trigger the sensor.” Kusanagi stepped up beside the demon’s face and waved his hand over the sensor. Just like before, an arrow shot out and embedded itself in the wall. Kuroh’s hand shot up. Kusanagi then waved his hand in front of the sensor once more.

“Kusanagi-san?!” Yata screeched. He was about to ask what the hell his friend was doing when Kuroh lowered his hand.

“What was that?” Yata asked in confusion.

“You were watching, right? I didn’t trigger an arrow.” Kusanagi answered.

“So the noise Yatogami heard was the trap reloading.” Awashima told them.

“Yes.” Munakata confirmed. “My guess is that it takes approximately five seconds for it to reload.”

“I guess we’d figured out what ‘give ear to the song of the demons’ means.” Yata laughed weakly.

“I couldn’t hear anything, though. You must have really good ears.” Kamamoto praised Kuroh.

“He probably has.” Yata laughed. “Listening to his former king’s words on the loop like a creep probably has something to do with it!”

“I dare you to say that again.”Kuroh growled and tried to draw his sword but his hand met air instead.

“Alright. Alright. Stop getting on everyone’s nerves, Yata-chan.” Kusanagi reprimanded the teenager then turned back to everyone. “We’ve figured out how the demon faces work. Now we just need our bard to do his thing.” He looked at Kuroh.

Kuroh nodded and went over the demon’s face, somehow knowing what to do, and waved his hand in front of the sensor.

“Oh, look, the bard panel turned off.” Kamamoto said. “Good job, Yatogami.”

“Now it’s the ninja panel that’s lit.” Yata added.

“A ninja, huh.” Awashima said, shifting her weight to her other foot. “We know it’s safe for about five seconds after the trap fires but…”

“One slip-up and they’d be toast.” Fushimi said what Awashima couldn’t.

“We have to figure out who our ninja is.” Munakata broke the tense atmosphere that was forming. “All we have left is Fushimi-kun, Awashima-kun, and Yatagarasu-kun.”

“Maybe it’s me?!” Yata lit up. “I mean, I’m fast!”

“Yata-chan.” Kusanagi looked worried.

“Sorry, Yata-san, but you’re only fast when you’re on your skateboard.” Kamamoto paused after receiving a glare from Yata.

“And you don’t know how to be careful.” Kusanagi added.

“And it can’t be me.” Awashima said. “So that leaves you, Fushimi.”

“Hah?! Why me? Misaki should do it! He’s only 167 cm tall! I bet he won’t even reach the sensors since he’s short!” Fushimi tensed the numbers and the word short.

“You picking a fight, you shitty monkey?!”

Kusanagi immediately headlocked Yata. “We already told you why he can’t. You know that more than anyone.”

“Fushimi.” Awashima called.

Fushimi’s mouth tightened slightly but he began to walk toward the demon heads.

“W-Wait.” Yata grabbed the arm around his neck. “Are you sure this is the only way?” He asked but his question fell on deaf ears. “Listen to me! Hey! We still haven’t figured out what ‘They will be purified by the light that shines in the darkness’ means! W-What if it’s just an endless corridor there?” Yata rambled with panicked tone.

“Alright, Yata-chan. I get it.” Kusanagi removed his arm around Yata’s neck. “Come back here, Fushimi.”

“Mi~sa~ki~! I didn’t know you’re that worried for me.” Fushimi couldn’t help but grin as he teased the short red clansman.

“I-I’m not, you shitty Saru!” Yata fumbled. “W-Who would run across that if you die just because we missed something!”

“Stop flirting, you two. I would’ve told you to get a room if there was one here.” Kusanagi told the two which made him earn a retort from Yata. “Let’s go back to the riddle.”

“Is the ‘light that shines in the darkness’ supposed to refer to these torches? Or maybe the sensors in the demons…” Kuroh asked.

Everyone was silent, having no idea. For several minutes no one spoke. Finally, Fushimi seemed to come to a decision, and began to walk toward the demons again.

“W-Wait! What are you doing?!” Yata called.

“We’re getting nowhere.” Fushimi took a deep breath, moved into a crouch, and leapt forward.

“Woah! Fushimi’s doing it!” Kamamoto exclaimed in awe.

Fushimi quickly established a rhythm, touching a sensor, waiting a split second for the arrow to fire, and then moving past the next one.

“Damn. Look at ‘im go.”

“In a few moments, Fushimi disappeared into the darkness, and all they could hear was the ‘thwack’ of arrows firing. A familiar chime echoed down the dark corridor.

“It looks like he made it.” Munakata adjusted his eyeglasses. Then suddenly, the hallway exploded with light.

“Whoa! That’s bright!” Yata shielded his eyes with his hand from the sudden light. Down at the end of the corridor, they could see Fushimi adjusting his eyeglasses.

Kusanagi waved his hand in front of the sensor but no arrow fired.

“Good job, Fushimi.” Awashima smiled at his subordinate. “The sensors no longer work.” And they all walked down the corridor.

“There was a switch down here that turns them all off.” Fushimi gestured towards a spot on the wall.

“The switch had turned on the lights when it turned off the demons.” Munakata said as he eyed the switch. “So this is what it meant by ‘purified by the light that shines in the darkness.’”

“We’ve only got one more puzzle left.” Kuroh informed them.

“Oh man… Why can’t we be done already?” Yata sighed. A short tune then played on the room’s speakers. “Whoa! That’s the same sound we heard when we cleared the Room of the Guardian!” The fanfare was quickly followed by an announcement.

“The Corridor of Hate has been completed.” A loud ‘clank’ was then heard from the end of the corridor, like a lock opening.

* * *

The Corridor of Hate led to a long staircase that took them up and up.

“According to the map,” Kusanagi started. “The last room is at the end of these stairs. So far we’ve spent about three hours.”

“Four hours left. Not bad.” Kuroh commented.

After that the group fell into another silence, focusing on the task before them which was climbing the what seemed like an endless flight of stairs. The group kept going until at long last they reached the top of the stairs. In front of them stood a set of double doors.

“Well done.” Nagare’s voice suddenly rang. “I see you’re not dead yet.”

“You bastard!” Yata screamed. “I swear, I’ll fucking kill you after this!”

“I have to say,” Nagare continued. “I’m having fun watching you lose your minds. Especially you, Yata Misaki.” A low chuckle was then heard.

“Bastard!” Yata screeched.

“Don’t let him provoke you.” Kuroh told Yata for the nth time. “You can’t fight him, not here.”

“I know that!” Yata growled and spat angrily.

“Well, at any rate, the next puzzle is the last one in this attraction. Until we meet again! If we meet again. Good luck, everyone.” And with that, he was gone.

“That jerk! Is he just messing with us?!” Yata continued.

“Probably. He’s trying to get us riled up. In your case, at least, it seemed to have worked.” Fushimi said to Yata.

“Yata-san, you better calm down.” Kamamoto patted his friend’s shoulder. “You might die of heart attack.” He laughed.

“Don’t even joke about it, you temporary lean fatso.” Yata also laughed as he punched Kamamoto’s arm weakly while Fushimi clicked his tongue.

After a few minutes of rest, the group gathered themselves and moved to the door, ready to take on the puzzle.

Kusanagi grabbed the doorknob and looked back at the rest. “Are you all ready?” He asked and they nodded.

Beyond the door was a glamorous Japanese-style room covered in Western ornamentation. The walls were all sliding doors but a massive chandelier hung from the ceiling. It looked like a house built during the late 1800s or early 1900s. In the center of the room was another strange statue. And just like before, next to it was a device with seven panels.

“The head is really big.” Kamamoto said pertaining to the head of the statue.

“That’s the nurarihyon.” Kusanagi told him. “It’s a monster that goes into people’s houses and drinks their tea. This one’s kind of different though.” He eyed the statue.

“Yes. It’s got western armor, and it’s holding a sword.” Awashima told the oddities of the statue.

“That’s the final boss from Samurai Fantasy VII.” Yata told them.

“Ah. Well, that makes sense. I guess?” Kamamoto said.

Moving carefully and checking everywhere for hidden trap, they slowly approached the statue. They were eyeing the statue when they heard a familiar voice.

“Take in hand the holy seal, and with the prayer of the priestess defeat the demon king. The light of victory will illuminate your path.” The announcement said.

“A priestess, huh…” Kuroh hummed.

“We should investigate the room thoroughly.” Munakata suggested. “Once we know more, we can examine the hint more closely.”

The group then decided to split into three groups. The Blue clan will examine the floor. Yata and Kamamoto will examine the sliding doors. Lastly, Kuroh and Kusanagi will examine the statue.

The Scepter 4 officials spread out in different directions, scanning the floor. It seemed totally ordinary until Awashima spotted a mark about the size of her fist near a wall.

“There’s something over here.” She announced.

“This is three-leafed wild ginger.” Munakata said after seeing the mark. “Wild ginger usually has two leaves. Three-leaved plants are exceedingly rare.” He paused, thinking.

Fushimi deemed it time for him to finally speak up. “Edo Palace was the home of the rule Tokugawa family. The protagonist of the game is actually a part of the family.”

“You know the game, Fushimi-kun?” Munakata asked with a tone that was not surprised but instead of a tone that sounded like he knows something.

“I… used to play the game.” Fushimi mumbled.

“That means this is the crest of the ruling clan, right?” Awashima asked and Fushimi nodded. “Could it be the ‘holy seal’?”

“I think so.” Fushimi agreed. “It’s sticking out, just a little. It’s some sort of switch.”

“Let’s regroup with the others.” Munakata said and the two nodded.

They all decided to regroup and see what the teams had found. It only took them a few minutes to go over what everything they’d found.

Kuroh and Kusanagi reported finding a diamond-shaped hole going all the way through the statue from its stomach to its back. Also the statue and its base were apparently made of different materials.

Yata and Kamamoto reported that they’d discovered the sliding doors were mostly just painted on, although there were a few real ones. Each wall had one real, not counting the entrance, there are three possible exits.

“Looks like we’ve found everything we’re gonna find. Now, how does this mess connect to what we heard?” Kusanagi asked.

“’Take in hand the holy seal, and with the prayer of the priestess defeat the demon king. The light of victory will illuminate your path.’” Kuroh repeated the announcement.

“’Take in hand the holy seal, and with the prayer of the priestess’ must mean that the priestess has to push the button with the seal on it.” Munakata said.

“Seri-chan, you have to do it.” Kusanagi said to Awashima.

“I know.” She said, seeing that she’s the only woman in the group. She went over the three-leafed wild ginger mark they found awhile ago. She took a deep breath and pushed the button. “Huh?” Nothing happened. She pushed again. Silence. “Nothing’s happening.” She turned to the others. “I don’t think it’s even moving.” She pushed again, this time harder.

“Huh?” Yata was about to stand beside Awashima but suddenly stopped then scooted farther from her. “Maybe you’re not pushing hard enough.” He said then pressed down on the seal with his foot. A pleasant chime sounded, and the priestess panel disappeared to be replaced by the warrior. “W-What the hell? Why’d it work for me?” Yata turned to the others.

“You must be the priestess.” Awashima said as she stood up.

“Whaaat?!” Yata screeched as he flailed his arms to prove them wrong. “That’s crazy! Lies! Look, if I’m either of those little pictures, I’m the warrior!” He looked flustered. A low chuckle was heard. Yata turned to the source. “Saru, you bastard. What are you laughing for?!”

“Isn’t it because of your name? Mi~sa~ki~?” Fushimi drawled the other’s first name.

“Don’t say my name.” Yata scowled. He then turned to a corner of the room. “Fuck you too!” He yelled for Nagare.

“Yata-chan.” Kusanagi placed his hand on Yata’s head, suppressing a laugh.

“Oh, hey!” Kamamoto called. “Take a look at this. Part of the floor opened up.”

They went over to see what Kamamoto was talking about. Sure enough, there was now a large hole on the floor.

“Looks like there’s something inside.” Kuroh said. He stuck his hand into the hole and pulled out.

“A katana?!”

“This one’s pretty heavy.” Kuroh weighed the sword on his hand. “This must be the holy seal.” He lifted the sword to show them its guard.

“Wild ginger…” Awashima said as she saw the design of the guard.

“Yeah. Maybe.” Yata said. “This is the Holy Sword Muramasa from the game. It’s an heirloom of the Tokugawa family, and the only thing that can hurt the nurarihyon.”

Kuroh drew the sword from its scabbard with a flourish, and swung it around a few times.

“You have obtained an item.” The voice echoed across the room.

“The next part is ‘defeat the demon king’ so…” Kusanagi trailed.

Kuroh went over to the statue and shoved the sword through it. “It fits the hole perfectly.” He said and with a final shove, the statue made a small ‘click’, followed by an electronic whirring noise. “It looks like it triggered something.” He told them.

“What do you think that noise it?” Yata asked.

“Probably that.” Kamamoto pointed.

“The light is… moving.”

They watched as it slowly turned to point at the top of the sword.

“It’s reflecting off the katana and pointing to the…” Kusanagi squinted. “door on the right-hand wall.”

“’The light of victory will illuminate your path.’ We have solved the puzzle.” Munakata smiled.

“Alright, Seri-chan, you open the door this time.” Kusanagi turned to Awashima.

Awashima nodded thinking now that the puzzle was solved, all she has to do it open the door and they would be finished with the attraction. She grabbed hold of the door and threw it open. On the other side was a wall with the head of a demon mounted on it. She stepped forward to get a closer look- A harsh buzzer sounded.

“The warrior panel turned red!” Kamamoto nervously and hurriedly yelled.

“Get down, Seri-chan!” As Kusanagi shouted, an arrow fired from the demon.

Awashima froze in place by surprise until something slammed into her.

“Ugh. Are you okay, Seri-chan?” Kusanagi grimced in pain. The bolt that was meant for her was buried on his shoulder. “This hurts a little more than I expected.”

“We need to stop the bleeding!” Awashima stood up after recovering from the initial shock. The group watched for a few tense minutes while she applied some rudimentary first aid. She took her handkerchief from her pocket and skillfully tied it around Kusanagi’s wound.

“We need to get out of here as fast as we can.” Yata paled as he remembered what happened to his two friends who were already gone.

“What did we do wrong?” Kuroh asked.

“Maybe we went through the steps wrong… Or we’re missing something important.” Munakata said.

The minutes ticked by. Every so often the Red clansmen would often turn to Kusanagi who would sometimes grimace in pain and shift uncomfortably.

“Let’s… Let’s go over everthing again.” Kusanagi said, wincing. The others nodded and went over what happened in their minds.

“Damn it!” Yata cursed. “What did we miss?!”

“We forgot how the statue and its base are made of different materials.” Fushimi said, heads turning to his direction.

“In that case, perhaps we should consider what that difference might mean.” Munakata said.

The group huddled around the statue and began to study it with renewed interest.

“Hey. You think this thing turns?” Yata asked as he circled the statue then pointed down towards where the statue met the base.

“That’s neat, Yata-san!” Kamamoto told Yata. “Here. Let me see if I can move it.” Carefully, Kamamoto stepped forward and put his hand on the statue. When nothing happened, he slowly started to push. “Oh! It moved!” He exclaimed. It appeared that the katana could be used as a sort of handle to rotate the statue.

“I think Awashima-kun should take over now.” Munakata said, “As the warrior, I think you’ll have to.” He added.

“There might be more tricks, so just go slowly and be ready to get out of the way.” Kusanagi said.

AWashima nodded. She moved the statue slowly and before long, the head suddenly shot off and flew across the room, slamming into a wall and dropping to the floor.

“T-That surprised me!” Yata exclaimed, clutching the front of his shirt.

“The panel’s green.” Kuroh informed them. 

“Our warrior has defeated the nurarihyon. So our steps were right, in a manner of speaking, we were just missing one.” Munakata said.

“That means that we just need to follow the light again, right?” Kamamoto asked.

“It’s pointing to a door on the left. Let me handle it this time.” Yata strode off toward the door and, once he’d made sure the others were out of the wait, he pulled it open. He let out a sigh of relief, and Kusanagi followed suit.

“The Room of the Supreme Ruler has been completed.” A voice echoed.

“Look! You can see the outside!” Kamamoto beamed. “This is the exit!”

At last, they’d finally finished the first day’s game. Their faces were drawn and tired but some had split a relieved grin while others just sighed in relief.

“Stage one has been completed. You have obtained a reward.” One of the floorboards in the passageway popped open. Inside was a treasure chest like the one they’d found in the first room.

“Let’s see here…” Yata opened the chest. “What the heck is this? It’s just a piece of paper.” He pulled it out and frowned at it. “TOGETHER…” He read. “What the hell does this mean?”

“We can think about that after we’ve gotten Kusanagi taken care of. How about you give that to me for safekeeping?” Munakata opened his hand.

Yata looked hesitant then turned to Kusanagi who nodded. Reluctantly, Yata handed the paper to Munakata.

Munakata smiled and said, “Let’s get out of this place.”

When they finally got outside, it was 7 pm and totally dark. The last room had taken them three hours.

“Congratulations on finishing today’s game.” The screen on the stomach of a statue of a pig lit up and showed Nagare. “You did an excellent job.”

“Stop fucking with us!” Yata yelled.

“I imagine you’ve got some idea what sort of fun you’ll have to look forward to in the rest of our games.” Nagare continued. “You must all be tired. Your hotel will arrive shortly. While you wait, you are free to do whatever you want. Once you’re all finished, please be sure to meet up at the far end of Adventure Village.” He paused then looked at Kusanagi. “If you want to patch Kusanagi Izumo up, there’s a first aid kit in the storage room in the main office.” With that, the connect cut off.

“It wasn’t hurting until he brought it up.” Kusanagi grimaced and pressed a hand against his shoulder.

“I’ll check the storage room Hisui Nagare mentioned.” Awashima said. “Wait for me at the bench over there.” She told Kusanagi.

“No. I’ll go with you. Eventhough the game for today is already over, we shouldn’t let our guard down.” Kusanagi told her. “You guys should go get some rest.” He turned to his fellow red clansmen.

“Alright, Kusanagi-san.” Yata obliged. “I’m starving. See you all at the restaurant.” He said and went over to the park’s map with Kamamoto.

“Then I’ll go have a look around the park. I might turn something up.” Munakata headed off after saying, “Let’s all meet up at the restaurant before we move to the Adventure Village.” The others nodded.

* * *

“Well, now that we’ve all finished, I’d like to give a quick run-down of what I turned up out there.” Munakata said.

Everyone looked up from their mostly empty plates.

“The entrance isn’t locked.” He continued. “If we wanted to, we can just walk out, but then he’d kill the hostages.”He paused and looked at the others’ expressions. “There doesn’t appear to be any park employees anywhere. Everything’s being run by the Green clan.” Almost everyone sighed.

“He must be reaaal bored if he thinks this is a good time.” Yata gritted his teeth. “When I get my hands on that bastard…”

* * *

After dinner, they headed toward the Adventure Village. Munakata seemed to know the way, so he led them there.

“Whoa! What the heck?!” Yata gawked. At the far end of Adventure Village, a gorgeous cruise liner had been anchored near the riverside dock.

“Well, now I see what he meant by ‘arrive.’” Kusanagi said. “It’s quite impressive.”

Yata and Kamamoto stared at the ship for a minute or two, amazed by its size and grandeur. Keeping a close eye to their surroundings, they headed for the ship. As it turned out, it was just as spectacular on the inside as it was on the outside. The décor wouldn’t have been out of place at a five-star hotel.

“Damn, I would’ve been stoked to get invited here if I wasn’t in the middle of a some stupid game.” Yata said under his breath.

“Me too.” Kamamoto agreed. They both gazed around the lobby and sighed. “Huh? Is it moving?” He asked.

“I think so.” Kuroh answered.

“He’s thorough.” Fushimi looked irritated. “This means we’re stuck here until morning.”

A man and woman, both wearing black helmet, appeared. “We’ll show you your rooms.” The woman said. “Please follow us.” The group followed the two to the rooms they’d been assigned.

* * *

“Man. I’m so tired.” As soon as the man who guided him to the room shut the door and left, Yata collapsed onto the bed. He moaned as he laid on the bed. After a whole day of running around, lying down felt so good. “Urgh.” With a mighty effort, he hauled himself out of the bed and toward the bathroom. After taking a shower, he dried and dressed himself; he began to examine the room. The room was about the size of a spacious single hotel room, but it was neat and pretty. It was also well-stocked with just about everything he could need.

Feeling refreshed, he finally let himself fall into the bed. But… thoughts quickly flooded his head. Thoughts of his friends that were held hostage, the game they’d just played and whatever game they’d be playing tomorrow. The exhaustion from before was gone, replaced with restless energy. Sighing, he stood up and headed to the deck.

Yata pushed open the double door and was greeted with a cold breeze.

“I’m pretty sure it’s past your bedtime.” A voice said. Yata turned to the side and yelled the name of the person who just spoke.

“Saru!”

“Can’t sleep, huh, Mi~sa~ki~?” Fushimi asked as Yata walked towards him on the railing. Yata nodded with a frown. “Can’t say I can blame you.” Fushimi leaned on the deck railing, looking over the water.

“You know…” Yata paused then grabbed the railing. “I… never thanked you properly for helping us when Anna was abducted.” Yata paused again, waiting if Fushimi will mock him. He continued when Fushimi showed no sign of hostility. “Thank you, Saruhiko.” He flushed, feeling embarrassed as he was not used to thanking his former best friend after the latter joined Scepter 4. Usually they would be at each other’s throat and Yata grew used to it. “I really appreciated it.” Yata mumbled. Silence. “Hey! Say something, will you?!”

“I didn’t do it to help you. It just happened that I also needed infor-“ “Achoo!” Fushimi was interrupted when Yata sneezed. He stared at Yata then said, “You still don’t dry your hair properly.” He then turned and headed back inside.

“Hey! Wait! I’m not- Achoo!” Yata sneezed again and tried to call Fushimi once more but he already disappeared inside. Yata frowned. “…And you still leave me behind.” He mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This is the longest chapter I've typed. My back and shoulder hurts. Urgh. I might not update this for a while... because this is so long (for me) that it sapped my energy.  
> Seriously, I can't even focus on the words anymore. My eyes would keep wandering on their own. I need to rest now.


	4. Stage II: Alice Kart Grand Prix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: K and Sweet Fuse has their respective owners, and that's not me.

Yata was still in deep sleep when the man who guided him to his assigned room woke him with a knock on the door. He had brought him breakfast, which Yata eyed. "This better not be poisoned." He told the green clansman who answered him with a scoff. Then man left after giving him the breakfast which Yata quickly ate before heading out.

"'Sup!" He greeted to Kusanagi, Kuroh, Awashima and Munakata who were all already waiting in the lobby.

"Good morning, Yata-chan." They all looked up and waved or nodded at him as he walked in. "Were you able to sleep well?" Kusanagi added.

"Yeah. Thanks for asking." He grinned.

"Glad to hear it. You seemed quite tired last night."

"How 'bout you, Kusanagi-san? How's your wound?" Yata asked as he flopped down on the couch.

"It's good. Doesn't quite hurt like yesterday." Kusanagi answered.

"That's great! Anyway, anyone knows what time this boat will dock?"

"Apparently, it will dock around 11:30." Munakata decided to answer Yata's question. As Munakata finished, Fushimi and Kamamoto walked in. "Good, we're all here." Munakata spoke once again. "I've been thinking we should exchange phone numbers. Calling one another shouldn't be against the rules."

"What? Why? Just sounds like a pain in the ass…" Of course Yata would refuse to add Blues on his contacts except that one person.

"Better safe than sorry. We have no idea what might happen out there." Munakata tried to reason Yata.

"So? It's not like they're gonna split us up. Man, you're such an old lady…" Yata rolled his eyes but raised his custom-PDA watch anyway, and started sending his contact info to Munakata, Awashima, and Kuroh in turn.

"I can't believe this." Fushimi mumbled, sounding exasperated. "I'm actually adding HOMRA scums on my contacts."

"You joined HOMRA with me." Yata, who apparently heard him, said.

"And I regret ever doing that."

Hurt quickly flashed in Yata's expression but anger quickly took over. "You goddamn traitor." He said in defeated anger.

* * *

The green clansman led them off of the boat and into the central plaza.

"Every time I look at him, I just wanna kick his ass." Yata scowled and cracked his knuckles as Nagare appeared on the screen on the pig's statue.

"Good morning, everyone." Nagare greeted. "The weather is amazing today too. It's a wonderful day for a game, wouldn't you agree?"

"Not for a game but for kicking your ass." Yata bravely said.

"Somebody's in a good mood." Kamamoto commented.

"He's off relaxing somewhere while we're trapped here. Of course he's in a good mood." Fushimi sounded irritated.

"It sounds unpleasant when you put it that way, Fushimi. You're not trapped. You can walk out of here if you want to." Nagare smiled.

"You know we can't do that." Kusanagi said, lighting a cigarette.

"Another way is to solve my puzzles and finish the game."

"If this is a game that means it can be beat. That means you haven't made any puzzles that can't be solved." Awashima stated and Yata followed.

"And that also mean that if we make it all the way through the game, we can fight the final boss. You."

Nagare chuckled then said. "Of course." He paused and looked directly at Yata. "But will you be able to?"

"You bet we can!"

"You may be the strongest king after the Gold King but you better not underestimate us." Munakata said in uncharacteristically sharp eyes.

Just then, a chime echoed across the park.

"Well, time flies." Nagare said. "Its noon already, which means it's time for today's game to start.

Nagare directed them to something called the 'Racing Square', so the group set off in that direction. They were part-way there when Kuroh began to speak.

"So where's he sending us off to next?"

"To 'Alice Kart Grand Prix' but everyone just calls it 'Alice Kart'. It's a racing game with a sort of… Alice in Wonderland theme." Yata told them. "You can mess with other people on the track, so it gets played a lot at parties. It's actually gotten to be kind of a hit with casuals."

"I also used to play it." Kamamoto said. "But I don't think it's gonna be a normal kart race after yesterday."

* * *

"Each one of you will compete in this race." Nagare told them through the monitor as the group arrived in front of the attraction. "The winner will receive a prize."

"A prize?"

"Yes." Nagare confirmed. "The winner will get a seat at a tea part. Now, please follow my vassal inside." With that, he was gone.

"Tea party…" Fushimi looked confused.

"I guess we won't be getting off easy with a race, then." Kusanagi sighed.

"Yes. I'm sure there will be more surprises later, too. Don't let your guard down." Munakata said.

After a short walk, the attraction opened up onto a race track. Yata wasn't kidding when he'd said it was Alice in Wonderland themed. There were decorations everywhere. It was pretty impressive.

"None of this stuff feels like it really goes with a race track..." Kuroh said as he looked around.

"Yeah. It's a little weird." Kusanagi added.

"That's what people liked about it. The disconnection made it really popular." Yata told them.

Before they could continue, the announcer started up. "Welcome to the Wonderland Circuit! Please form into groups of two and enter the karts!"

"I'm guessing the karts are those." Awashima glanced to the karts which looked like ones you would find at a normal race kart. "Looks pretty standard."

"There are eight." Kusanagi spoke. "But four already seem to have green clansmen in them."

"Damn, now this looks like fun! Those guys are our opponents then? Sweet! Time to kick some green asses!" Yata seemed pretty excited at the prospect of beating someone up.

"The race will be three laps. Be careful since if you crash or the green clansmen win, the game is over!" The announcer said.

"It sounds pretty normal but…" Kamamoto trailed. "Why do I have a feeling it won't be?"

"Well, after yesterday, I'd say that's a pretty reasonable expectation." Kusanagi told him.

"Yeah."

"All right, we should split into groups. Unfortunately, we've got an odd number of people, so someone's going to be driving solo." Kusanagi maneuvered the conversation back to how they'll attack the challenge before them.

"Fine with me!" Yata said, still brimming with excitement and eagerness. "You get more speed with less weight anyway."

"But Yata-san…" Kamamoto turned to Yata with a worried look. "Do you know how to drive?"

"Ah…" Yata stared at Kamamoto after realizing he haven't touched a steering wheel of a real vehicle and would just opt to riding at the back. "It's just a kart so I can probably manage."

"Even if you know how to drive you'll be the only person who can play in the tea party." Kusanagi told him. "I've got a feeling the puzzle is at that party. We need to have two people there."

They all agreed that Kusanagi was right, so someone would have to pair with Yata.

"So who's going to go by themselves then?" Kuroh asked.

"Let me be the odd man out." Munakata told them without hesitation.

"But Captain!" Awashima was about to try to reason her king when Munakata spoke up again.

"I can manage on my own, Awashima-kun."

"Okay, Munakata will take the kart by himself then." Kusanagi said and added. "Even if he's by himself, I think he can solve the puzzle."

"Now for the groups, I suppose the best way to decide that is rock, paper, scissors." Kuroh suggested. The rest nodded and held out their hands. "If you get the same thing, you pair up. Good?" Kuroh continued.

"Yeah."

"Ready? One… Two…" They threw their hands in front of them at the count of three.

"Oh!" Yata quickly turned to Kamamoto who also threw rock. "Let's win this thing!"

"Yeah!"

Kusanagi turned to Awashima who also threw scissors. "Just imagine it, Seri-chan. You and me, on the open road. Well, the open track, anyway. Ready to get moving?" He asked while Awashima just groaned.

That left Kuroh and Fushimi who just nodded at each other in acknowledgement.

* * *

Yata quickly climbed into his' and Kamamoto's kart. "Hey. Looks like there are two sets of controls," He said. "One for the wheel, and one for the gas." He turned to Kamamoto who was still outside the kart. "You take the wheel and I'll take the gas."

"All right, Yata-san." Kamamoto agreed as he climbed in and took his seat in front of the steering wheel.

"Captain!" They heard Awashima call for her king.

"Don't worry, this kart has been made so it can be driven by a single person." He gave a small smile, and Awashima fell back into her seat, relieved.

Awashima turned back to examining the kart she was in and saw several buttons set across the dashboard _'Missile', 'Caltrops', 'Oil', and 'Boost',_ she read on her mind. She saw none of them lit then started to think when Kusanagi spoke up.

"All right then, let's see what we can do." He gave her a grin and a conspiratorial wink. Kusanagi revved up the engine and turned back to Awashima. "When we're on the straightaway, I want you to put it through the floor, then ease off when we hit those turns. About half the juice should be good."

"Right. I got it." She agreed without question.

"I'm counting on you, Seri-chan."

One of the green clansmen appeared at the starting platform with a flag. Then the signal turned green, and the race began. The roar of engines filled the air, and the karts sped off.

Awashima pushed down on the gas pedal as hard as she could, making them part of the leading group. Kusanagi didn't seem much concerned about anything, humming to himself loudly while he jerked the wheel back and forth. After a bit, he suddenly stopped humming and began to speak.

"Well, what do you say we try for first place?" No sooner were the words out of his mouth, however, than their kart began to shake making Awashima yelp. "What the hell?! Did something happen to the tires?!"

"Probably!" Awashima answered. The kart had been fine a moment before, and now it was shaking like a leaf in the wind. "It had to be the tires."

"Damn. No choice, then, let off on the gas, Seri-chan."

Awashima lifted her foot off the accelerator, and the kart slowed to a stop at the side of the course. Kusanagi got off the kart and examined the tires.

"Huh? Caltrops?" He said.

"What?"

Kusanagi grunted and got down on his knees to pull them out of the tires. "Why would there be caltrops on a race track?" He let out a deep sigh. "Fortunately, the tires were thick and hadn't been punctured." He hopped back into the kart and roared back onto the track to find themselves from third to sixth place. It wasn't long before they entered their second lap. "What were caltrops doing on a race track?" He grumbled and jerked the wheel to the side. As he did, he heard a noise that could only described as… odd. "Did you hear that?" He asked. "I think it went off when I drove over one of those question marks." He twisted his head back to look at it.

"One of the buttons has a light next to it." Awashima said. "The boost one." She paused. "Someone probably got caltrops from the question marks."

Kusanagi glanced at the buttons on the dashboard then back to the track. "Let's try it. Press it in just-"

"Okay." Awashima interrupted him and pressed the button.

"Woah!" Kusanagi almost lost his grip on the wheel. They were approaching the curve and when the boost kicked in, they shot forward nearly flying off the track. He spun the wheel in the other direction, narrowly avoiding disaster.

"I-I'm sorry! I just pushed and didn't think about it!" Awashima apologized as they steadied back on track.

"No. I should have been clearer." Kusanagi smiled. "Still, we managed to pass one of the Greens. That's good, right?"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry." Awashima turned her attention back to working on the gas. Kusanagi saved her again, without his quick thinking; they could have gotten badly hurt.

"So, it looks like one of these buttons here lights up when we pass one of those question marks on the track?" Kusanagi asked.

"Yes."

Unfortunately, by now the lead cars were on their third and final lap, just as Kusanagi and Awashima entered their own. Kusanagi jerked the wheel to the side, and their kart flew over a question mark.

"We got a missile." Awashima informed him.

"Good. All right then…" He thought for a moment. "I'll push it this time."

"… Okay." Awashima eyed him.

Kusanagi waited for the right moment, and then quickly hit the button. A missile flew out from under their kart, slamming into one in front of them. The other kart suddenly slowed and careened off the track. "That puts us in fourth."

"Did you think I was going to mess up again?" Awashima asked in masked anger.

"No, not really. Are you mad, Seri-chan? See, we didn't know exactly what the missile might do, you know?" Kusanagi explained without turning to face Awashima. "What if it turned out the thing's killed people? The Greens might be our enemies but I don't want it on your conscience if they die."

"… Oh." Awashima focused on the race track. "… Thank you." She wanted to add that it wasn't necessary but held back her tongue.

"No worries, Seri-chan, but let's save the heart-to-heart for after the race. We've still got half a lap left." Kusanagi chanced a glance at Awashima and quickly turned back to the track. "See? That's the third place kart in front of us."

"I can see Kamamoto and Yata. There's a pair of green clansmen in front of them, and Fushimi and Yatogami are in the lead." She then looked behind them and saw Munakata who looked like he was just playing a casual game. "Captain is just right behind us."

"We're coming up on the last straightaway. The race is about to get pretty intense." No sooner had Kusanagi finished than the second-place kart let out an angry roar and sped-up. They'd used their boost. The Greens' kart kept accelerating until they thought it was going to pass Fushimi and Kuroh, but- With a sudden 'boom', the Greens spun out glancing off Fushimi's kart. Kamamoto and Yata shot by them, toward the finish line.

"Damn!" Kusanagi shouted as he began to turn the wheel. "Stop the kart!" She shouted to Awashima. They slowed to a stop near the edge of the track, and ran over Fushimi and Kuroh.

"Are you guys okay?" Awashima asked the teenagers.

Fushimi and Kuroh's kart had stopped just short of the fence. "Yes. Barely." Kuroh answered. Although alive and unhurt, they were both pale and slightly shaken.

"Victory!" The announcer's voice echoed across the track. Yata and Kamamoto's victory was official.

* * *

 

After the race, the group opened the door to the next area in silence. If the atmosphere can speak, it would have said that everyone was questioning Yata's action during the race, although Yata himself was in high spirits. If the Greens had won, they would have failed the game and everything would have been over. Nobody could bring themselves to judge Yata too harshly. And it's not like he tried to hurt any of them on purpose.

Beyond the door was a small forest. A blue sky spread out above them. The whole place felt nice. It was all fake, of course. The sky was a painting on a domed ceiling, and the forest was plastic and metal. In the center of the clearing was a single house with chimneys that looks like rabbit ears. The whole thing would have been pretty cute if it wasn't part of the awful game.

"Wonderland Circuit, completed." The announcer's voice rang through the clearing.

"All right!" Yata's triumphant roar echoed across the dome.

Apparently, Fushimi had finally had enough. "You. Let's talk." Fushimi grabbed Yata's shirt.

"Huh?"

"Don't you 'huh' me. What you did back there was really dangerous. I sure hope you've got a good explanation."

"What the hell? Why are you giving me this white knight noise?" Yata bumped his forehead on Fushimi's. "I didn't have a choice. If I hadn't done something, we would've lost, and then we would have all been screwed!"

"And that was enough of a reason to put the rest of us in danger?"

"That's rich coming from you!" Yata slapped Fushimi's hand off him. "Grab my shirt and we're gonna have to throw down." He said through gritted teeth.

Fushimi grabbed Yata by his shirt once again and pulled him up to face him. The other man stared back, not intimidated. Suddenly, the blank look on Yata's face contorted into anger. He raised his fist and slammed it into Fushimi's face. "I'm getting real sick of your holier-than-thou façade, you fucker! Let it go!" Yata slammed his fist again on Fushimi's face.

"Ugh." Fushimi grunted as he stumbled back, then threw himself forward, driving a fist into Yata's stomach.

Yata clutched his stomach then glared at Fushimi. They started trading blows, one after another, but they were evenly matched. The others just watched. No one seemed to want to step in except Kamamoto. The two continued to trade blows but the last one had Yata fall on his knee. That was when Kamamoto finally stepped in.

"Yata-san!" Kamamoto knelt beside the shorter man. Yata ignored Kamamoto and stood up again, Kamamoto immediately following suit. "Knock it off already!" He yelled at the two but it didn't seem like they even heard him.

"Kamamoto." Kusanagi called as he lit a cigarette. "Let 'em work it out. They're just a couple of hot-headed kids."

Kamamoto sighed and shook his head after looking at the former friends who were still throwing it down. "But Kusanagi-san, I think its past time the two of them stopped this nonsense. Just look at their faces!" He jerked his thumbed to their battered faces to prove his point.

Munakata then cleared his throat who seemed to have also thought the same as Kamamoto. "Fushimi-kun." He called, managing to stop him from throwing punches. Fushimi stared at his king while Yata was man-handled away from Fushimi by Kamamoto. Thus the fight ended.

Fushimi and Yata glared at each other. The fight was over, but they were still a long way from anything you might call teamwork. They'd come together the day before but today it seemed like everything was falling apart.

"I apologize for interrupting when you're in the middle of having so much fun, but the tea party will be starting soon." Nagare's voice rang through the speakers. "Everyone but the winning pair should head into that house over there." The ringing cut off.

"A tea party, huh? I can't _wait_." Fushimi frowned as he started to walk towards the house, and the rest followed.

A table had been set for a tea party, with stacks of fake dishes and tea cups spread across it. In the chairs were statues of a rabbit, a mouse, and a man with a hat. Yata and Kamamoto stepped at the table.

As the rest passed the table, Kusanagi began to speak. "The 'Mad Party' is part of a sequence in 'Alice in Wonderland' that takes place at the March Hare's house. In attendance are the March Hare himself, the Dormouse, and the Mad Hatter. The Hatter has incurred the wrath of the Queen of Hearts. Consequently, his watch stopped at six o'clock. For him, it's always time for tea."

* * *

 

"This is a very peculiar house." Munakata looked around inside the house. Outside, it had looked quaint, inviting and downright whimsical, but inside it was covered in metal plating with no decorations of any sort.

"There's no way that ceiling's up to code." Kusanagi said and the rest looked up to see that the entire ceiling was a metal plate covered in giant spikes.

"I think we can see out through those windows." Kuroh went over the said round windows and saw the tea party outside.

On the wall opposite from the door was a giant television screen.

"…I've got a bad feeling about his." As Awashima spoke, a loud 'clank' filled the house.

Munakata went over the door and turned the knob. "The door is locked."

Kusanagi sighed, getting used to the idea of being locked, and beckoned the others to the windows. They were trying to see what was going on outside when the announcer, which sounded suspiciously like Yukari, began to speak. "Welcome to the March Hare's house, everyone…! Well, that's what I'd like to say, but –Oh no! if you don't hurry up everyone is going to die!" As the announcer finished, a metallic groan was heard from the ceiling.

"It appears the spikes have begun to move!" Kusanagi's cigarette fell from his mouth. "We'll get skewered if we don't do anything."

"Now, it is time for the tea party to begin. Though the two of you have been invited, you're welcome to invite your friends as well. But only if you can command the mad host to do so!" The announcer said to the players outside, making it sound like everything was going to depend on Yata and Kamamoto. "And I'd hurry if I were you. If you don't get them to the party soon, your friends are going to die!"

Although the group inside the house couldn't hear the players through the window, they saw Yata and Kamamoto suddenly look up, surprised.

"Ugh." Fushimi grunted. "So our lives are in the hands of those two idiots." His voice was grim.

"Nothing we can do, though. We're stuck in here." Kusanagi said without trying to defend his fellow red clansmen since he knows firsthand how rash Yata can be and Kamamoto can barely contain Yata. "I gave them everything I could think of on the way here. I just hope it helps."

Awashima stared at him. She's thought his sudden dialogue earlier was strange, but now she saw what he'd been trying to do.

They all crowded around the two windows to look outside as Yata and Kamamoto came running over toward the house. Yata ran to the door and started jiggling the handle, but it was locked up tight while Kamamoto pounded the windows.

 _"Hey! Are you guys okay?"_ Kamamoto's voice came through over the speaker just like the announcer's had.

"Hurry up and solve it!" Kuroh yelled as loud as he could but Kamamoto didn't seem to hear him. Kuroh gave up and jabbed his finger at the ceiling.

 _"Woah!"_ At Kamamoto's shout, Yata left the door and ran over to the window.

"So they can't hear us." Munakata said. "He has made sure we're just audiences."

Kusanagi made a shooing motion at the two men outside the window, wanting them to go back and solve the puzzle. The two didn't seem to get it though. Kamamoto looked puzzled and Yata just kept nodding. "Damn it! I can't get through them." He grimaced.

 _"Yata-san."_ They heard Kamamoto say. _"I think we should get back to the table. The door isn't going to open so the only way we can help them is to solve the puzzle."_

 _"Damn."_ Yata cursed. _"Guess we don't have a choice."_ They turned and stomped back to the table.

Even though they were ways away, Kusanagi and the rest could still hear them talking quite clearly.

 _"All right, so, if I'm understanding that announcement right, we need to command the mad host of this tea party to invite Kusanagi-san and the rest, right?"_ Kamamoto asked.

 _"Yeah."_ Yata answered, sweat trickling down his temple. _"So which one of these guys is the 'mad host'?"_ He eyed the three statues.

_"Hm…"_

Suddenly Kusanagi groaned and smacked his forehead. "Damn it!"

"Is something wrong?" Awashima asked.

"The 'Mad Tea Party' is a tea party in Alice in Wonderland that's held in the garden at the March Hare's house." Kusanagi said.

That was more or less what he'd said before. Awashima didn't see the problem. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Well, in the book it's the first time the Mad Hatter shows up so a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that he's the host." Kusanagi wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Then it's a trick question? I would have guessed he was the host. I mean, he's the _Mad_ Hatter." Kuroh admittedly said.

"I would have thought so too…" Awashima also said.

"But the party is at the March Hare's house. If it's his house, he's the host." Kusanagi supplied.

"I hope they will be all right." Munakata said, still looking calm. "I wonder if they will realize the true nature of the question."

"Damn it." Kusanagi cursed again. "If only we could talk to them somehow…" He had begun to pace back and forth restlessly.

"We could try and communicate with gestures…" Kuroh trailed. "But if they misinterpret what we're saying, that'd be bad."

 _"Uh… Remember what Kusanagi-san said?"_ Kamamoto turned to Yata. _"These guys are the March Hare, the Dormouse, and the Mad Hatter."_

_"Yeah, and this is the 'Mad Tea Party' or something."_

Fushimi groaned and pressed his hand to his face.

"So how does the March Hare qualify as 'mad'?" Kuroh asked.

"Well, in the British Isles there's a turn of phrase that says somebody's 'mad as a march hare'.: Kusanagi started to explain. "Supposedly the hares act… weird during mating season, which is where the phrase comes from. But in any event, the 'Mad Tea Party' is called what it is because everyone there is mad."

"I see…" Awashima contemplated. "The question is, will they…"

"Let's hope they don't get fooled by the 'mad' part of 'Mad Hatter'." Munakata said.

 _"Ha! This one's a piece of cake!"_ Yata bragged which made Fushimi groan more. _"The host's gotta be this guy!"_ He pointed, of course, at the Mad Hatter.

"That idiot!" Fushimi grunted while the others let out a collective sigh.

 _"I dunno, Yata-san."_ Kamamoto frowned. _"I mean, yeah, it seems like he's the obvious choice, but something's bugging me."_

_"You know what's bugging me? That house. Why the hell did they give it rabbit ears?"_

_"C'mon, Yata-san."_ Kamamoto sighed then suddenly, an idea struck him. _"Rabbit…! Of course! That's it!"_

_"The hell's wrong with you?"_

_"They're not rabbit ears! They're hare ears, Yata-san! Remember what Kusanagi-san said? The party is being held in the garden of the March Hare's house!"_

_"March Hare… oh… Oh, yeah, I guess that explains the ears, huh?"_

_"Yeah. So that means the 'mad host' is actually-"_

_"Not the hat guy but the hare?"_ Yata pointed at the statue of the March Hare as he interrupted Kamamoto. The group inside the house all sighed again but this time with relief.

 _"No, hold on a minute. Even if this is the March Hare's garden, that doesn't necessarily mean he's hosting the party…"_ Kamamoto said, frowning.

_"Make up your mind, man."_

"Damn it, Kamamoto!" Kusanagi swore. "This is driving me insane."

"I'm really starting to wish we had a different team out there right now." Kuroh said under his breath.

Inside of the house, the atmosphere was filled with anxiety and despair, and with every passing minute the ceiling full of spikes got a little closer.

 _"We don't really have a lot of time, so let's stick with the hare as the host and keep going."_ Yata said impatiently.

 _"You're right."_ Kamamoto yielded. _"We don't want to second-guess ourselves too much. So… next we need to figure out how to 'command' the host."_

 _"No idea. Let's go look at our host."_ The two proceeded to examine the hare statue more closely.

_"So what are we supposed to do to 'command' him? That part seems really weird."_

_"Looks like he's holding a card and… a pistol?!"_

As soon as Yata spoke, the screen inside the house suddenly flickered to life.

"What?" Kusanagi reacted and they all turned around to face it.

"Gooood afternoon, everyone!" Sukuna, who was standing beside Nagare, greeted in a playful tone. "How's it going? What's it feel like to be totally and completely hopeless, with your lives in the hands of a pair of idiots?" He cackled.

"Thrilling, right?" Nagare smiled. "Aggravating?"

"Here to mess with our heads?" Fushimi muttered.

"It looks like your little friends managed to figure out who the 'mad host' is, but I wonder… Will they be able to 'command' him?" Nagare asked then Sukuna continued. "'Cause if they make a mistake- BANG!" Sukuna made a gun firing gesture with his hand. "Shot through the heart. The pistol the hare's holding is real, you know?"

Kusanagi paled. Knowing Yata, the situation could go from bad to worst. He wanted to shout for the two but there was nothing he really could do: there was no way to communicate with them.

"I guess all we can do is hope those two knuckleheads don't screw up." Even Fushimi's usually detached disposition seemed to have been shaken. He and Yata are usually at each others throat but it doesn't mean he wants him dead.

Outside, Yata and Kamamoto continued to examine the card and the pistol.

 _"What do you think about these?"_ Kamamoto held cards in front of Yata.

 _"A six of spades, a king of clubs…"_ Yata named the cards then looked up at Kamamoto. _"Where did find those?"_

_"Inside the cups on the table. And the hare's holding a card too, right?"_

_"Oh yeah. He's holding the king of diamonds. You think there are any more cards around here?"_ Yata scanned the area.

 _"Dunno."_ The two nodded at each other then started to look around.

After a few minutes of searching, they turned up several more cards. Yata spread out the cards they found on the table. _"So we've got a six of spades, the kings of clubs hearts, the queens of spades and hearts, and the eight of diamonds."_

_"Do you think maybe we 'command' the hare by doing something with a card stronger than the one he's holding?"_

_"Yeah!"_ Yata beamed. _"That's gotta be- wait… He's holding a king, though. If he had a six or a queen, sure, but how do you beat a king?"_

Kamamoto frowned. _"Isn't there an order to the suits too? I could be wrong; I don't really know much about cards."_

_"Urgh… Sure I wish I'd worked a little harder on learning poker…"_

For the next few minutes, they were silent, deep in thought.

"In order from greatest to least the suits usually go; spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs." Munakata said.

"Then…" Kuroh turned to Munakata. "The only card that can beat the king of diamonds is the king of hearts."

"Right. If only we could tell them somehow." Kusanagi looked outside the window.

Almost as if Yata heard him, Yata left the table and came running towards them. The ceiling was down much farther now- just above their heads. There wasn't much time left.

Kusanagi tried to make the shape of a heart with his hands to Yata but- A loud 'clank' was heard and the shutters of the windows closed.

"Bzzzt! Too bad!" Sukuna suddenly spoke. "Can't let you just tell him the answer, can we? That wouldn't be any fun at all. The shutter's going to stay closed until he heads back.

Yata ran off, back to the table after few seconds of pounding on the window.

 _"How's it look, Yata-san?"_ Kamamoto looked worried.

 _"They're okay."_ Yata looked back at the house which's window shutters opened again. _"But we need to hurry. Figure anything out while I was gone?"_

 _"Yeah, I think I've figured out where the card goes. Right here."_ Kamamoto pointed.

_"The hare's mouth?"_

_"Yeah. It looks like it'll fit a card, so all that's left is to figure out which one."_

_"Do you know?"_

_"No. Not a clue."_ Kamamoto chuckled grimly.

Yata sighed then grinned and picked up the king of clubs and the king of hearts.

 _"Wait. Yata-san, what are you going to do?"_ Kamamoto looked nervous and worried.

 _"Well, it's gotta be one of these so we've gotta make a bet."_ Yata held out the cards. _"In games of chance, luck wins out. C'mon, that's, like, a basic principle of gambling."_

 _"But you're not a good gambler, Yata-san!"_ Kamamoto almost yelled at the shorter man.

_"I've played a little. Let's leave it at that!"_

_"If you mean the ones we've played at Kusanagi-san's bar then you better stop! You always lose!"_

_"Man. Details."_ Yata shrugged.

"That idiot!" Kusanagi raised his voice which still contained worry. "Is he just going to guess?!"

"It's looking that way." Kuroh closed his eyes in defeat.

The others shook their heads but it wasn't like there was anything they could do.

"Pick the king of hearts." Kusanagi silently prayed.

 _"You really think that's okay?"_ Kamamoto asked in defeat, knowing he can't win against the stubborn Yata Misaki.

 _"We don't have a choice. We don't know the answer. Besides, we've got a fifty percent chance of getting it right."_ Yata stared at the two cards for several long seconds before finally holding one of them up. _"This one."_

 _"The king of hearts?"_   Kamamoto looked surprised.

 _"Yeah. You gotta trust your heart, right?"_   Yata grinned and tapped his thumb on his chest.

"He might be rash but I guess a broken clock is still right twice a day." Kusanagi smiled.

 _"Get back, just in case."_   Yata shooed Kamamoto. After Kamamoto stepped away, Yata carefully slid the card into the hare's mouth.

The group inside the house couldn't see what's happening but Kusanagi still smiled. "That's i-" Kusanagi didn't finish his words when- "What?!"

"…!"

"Was… that a gunshot?" Kuroh nervously asked.

They all looked at each other, tension filling the room.

With a dull thud, Yata collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Yata!" Kusanagi yelled who turned to the window just in time to see Yata collapse.

Fushimi dashed towards the other window and pushed Kuroh away from it after Kusanagi screamed.

"One down, six to go!" Sukuna laughed heartily. "To think someone would die trying to solve such simple puzzle. Too bad!"

"Shut up, you fucking brat!" Fushimi yelled at Sukuna who didn't seemed to be fazed at all.

"He had the right answer!" Kuroh said.

Outside, Kamamoto was shaking Yata's body.

"You bastards!" Fushimi continued screaming his tirade of profanities at Nagare and Sukuna.

"Do you really want to waste your breath yelling at us?" Nagare turned to Fushimi. "I think it might be better spent praying for your friend out there to stumble on the right answer."

Fushimi scowled. The ceiling was getting really close. Kusanagi, the tallest of them, and Munakata had to duck to avoid it.

"But he did have the right answer!" Kuroh said again. "It has to be the king of hearts!"

"You really are a stick in the mud, aren't you?" Sukuna sighed. "How stubborn! You must have lived a pretty sad life. I mean, why do you think there are cards? Who command the March Hare?"

"Wait. That means…" Awashima's eyes widened. "That's it!" She nodded to herself. "The most powerful person in the world of Alice in Wonderland is the Queen of Hearts. That's the card they need to give to the hare!"

"That's great insight, Awashima-kun." Awashima nodded to his lieutenant.

"You are correct." Nagare smiled.

"Damn." Kusanagi swore. "So the card the hare was holding, and all the kings were just decoys?"

"Exactly!" Sukuna pointed at Kusanagi then placed his hands on the back of his head. "But it's not like knowing that is going to do you any good now." He laughed.

Kuroh looked over at the others and noticed that Fushimi was grinning.

"… You got all that?" Fushimi asked which confused everyone.

"Huh?" Sukuna looked confused just as much as everyone.

Fushimi looked out the window and everyone followed suit just in time to see Yata suddenly come back to life.

"What?!" Sukuna looked bewildred.

Everyone, except Fushimi, was too stunned to speak as Yata leapt up, grabbed the queen of hearts, and shoved it into the hare's mouth.

"Tea party, completed." The announcer said.

 _"In your face!"_ Yata screamed and pointed to a corner which he assumed was where Nagare was watching.

"We did it!" Kamamoto also cheered and high-fived one another.

Inside the house, the ceiling stopped with a 'clank'. It had gotten pretty close, but it wasn't moving anymore.

"It stopped." Awashima smiled in relief.

"That's good and all but… what had just happened?" Kusanagi turned to ask Fushimi.

"…" Fushimi only adjusted his eyeglasses.

There was a loud 'clang' as the door unlocked. They hurried outside as fast as they could, anxious to get away from the spikes.

"Sure is good to be out there." Kuroh breathed in.

"Yeah, but I still don't understand what's going on." Awashima eyed her subordinate and Yata.

"Are you alright?" Fushimi asked to Yata in a contained voice, trying to hide any worry, if he was even feeling it.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Yata answered. "How 'bout you guys?" He looked at everyone.

"Nothing to worry." Kuroh answered.

Awashima looked confused. She could still remember the fight they had- it hadn't been that long ago- but now they were acting almost somewhat… friendly.

"All right." Kusanagi turned to the two. "I think it's time you boys told us what's going on here. Out lady keeps saying she doesn't get it."

"Yes, I also want to know what exactly is going on." Kuroh seconded.

"Indeed…" Munakata silently nodded.

Yata cleared his throat and began to speak. "The truth is, we were both on our PDAs since before we got split up. Of course, he kept the volume of his turned off." He jerked his thumb to Fushimi.

"I didn't notice." Awashima said.

"I didn't either." Munakata also said. "How did you- Aah… Very clever, Fushimi-kun." He smiled.

"Figured it out, huh?" Fushimi mumbled.

"You mean your fight earlier was just an act?" Kuroh asked.

"Of course it wasn't!" Yata answered. "This guy just suddenly told me his plan during our fight."

"Using the fight to let you get close enough to talk privately, and give everyone a reason to assume you weren't. Clever." Munakata said.

"Yeah. He suddenly handed me a headset while we were grappling. I almost threw it on his face." Yata gave a boyish grin, remembering their scuffle earlier.

* * *

 

" _Hey!" Fushimi said in a low hushed voice after grabbing Yata's shirt and pulling him up to face him._

" _What?!" Yata asked in a low voice that still contained anger._

" _Punch me in the stomach." Fushimi said which confused Yata. "Just trust me! Do it!"_

_At the word trust, Yata's blank expression contorted into anger. He raised his fist and slammed it into Fushimi's face. "I'm getting real sick of your holier-than-thou façade, you fucker! Let it go!" Yata slammed his fist again on Fushimi's face._

" _Ugh." Fushimi grunted as he stumbled back. "I said hit… my… stomach!" He threw himself forward, driving a fist into Yata's stomach._

_Yata clutched his stomach then glared at Fushimi. The two then started to trade blows. Yata quickly straddled Fushimi as soon as he stumbled down on the ground. Yata paused on throwing punches when Fushimi pushed something inside the pocket of his shorts. Yata immediately grabbed what was pushed in his pocket._

" _A headset?" Yata mumbled as he felt the object. He pulled the thing out of his pocket with a closed fist. He raised the said fist and punched Fushimi's face with it. "What the hell are you fucking around for?!"_

" _Goddamn it, Misaki! Listen to me!" Fushimi said as he guards his face while Yata continued his attacks. "I'm going to call you. Put it on, and you'll be able to hear us. Got it?!"_

_Yata paused mid punch. Fushimi took the opportunity and punch Yata off him. The two scrambled standing up but Fushimi was faster. He then punched Yata in the face causing the latter to fall on his knee._

* * *

 

"Since only one team could participate in the tea party, I suspected that the Green King would set up some sort of a trap for them." Fushimi further explained. "And since we're under surveillance, I had to give it to him during our fight." Fushimi adjusted his eyeglasses again. "Being the idiots that they are, I thought they might need our help."

"You picking for a fight again?!" Yata raised his fist.

"Well, you sure fooled your allies. I hope the enemies fell for it too." Kusanagi said.

"I was right there, and I didn't even know." Kamamoto chuckled. "I had no idea. That was kind of a jerk move, Yata-san."

"Sorry, man, but it would've been real bad if they overheard us." Yata said. "…Anyway, I was sure the king of hearts was right, but… ugh…" Yata groaned a little and rubbed his chest.

"Did you actually get shot?" Kusanagi asked.

"Yeah, that's right! You were shot!" Kamamoto joined Kusanagi on crowding Yata.

"Well, yeah, sort of. But I had a little help…" He reached under his shirt and pulled out what looked like a metal serving platter with a massive dent.

"When did you get that?!" Kamamoto looked surprised.

" Hey, give me a little credit." Yata glared a little at the taller man. "Once I heard the gun was real I grabbed it as soon as I could. Good thing I did."

"But didn't it still hurt?" Kamamoto continued to throw questions.

"Yesh, it hurt like hell, but it doesn't look like it did any permanent damage." Yata pulled the neckline of his shirt away from him then looked down to see a reddish bruise on his chest.

"That's good." Kusanagi sighed.

Fushimi walked over to them. "I told you to hit me in the stomach, you punk. Why did you hit my face so hard?"

"You should talk! You just about knocked the wind out of me when we wrestled on the ground!"

Kuroh let out a long sigh of relief at seeing them, but that was short-lived.

"Voooid! Void!" They heard Sukuna's childish screech. "This is void! Nagare, this should be a fail!"

"What the hell?!" Yata yelled. "You throwing a tantrum now?!"

"Well, you cheated!" Sukuna's face had gone red with anger while Nagare remained calm and collected.

"Cheated?" Fushimi asked. "None of your rules prohibited communication _within_ the park." Sukuna growled and Fushimi continued. "If it's not against the rules, how is it cheating?"

"You give us puzzles, we solve them. This whole game is about using another's strengths and following rules, is it not?" Munakata backed his vassal.

"Ugh! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Sukuna continued to throw a tantrum. "If I say you failed, you failed! And if you failed, then I'm going to blow this whole thing sky-"

"Sukuna." Nagare cut Sukuna's tantrum. "They are right."

"But Nagare-!"

"Sukuna." Nagare stopped him again. "It's our loss this time. They didn't break any rules."

"Aaargh! You'll regret this!" With one final grunt of rage from Sukuna, the screen shut off. Moments later, they heard a noise from the table.

"Did you hear that?" Awashima asked.

"I think it came from that." Kuroh pointed the big dish, which cover's opened up, in the middle of the table.

"Let's have a look here…" Kusanagi went closer to the dish then pulled its cover completely. "A treasure chest. It looks identical to the one we found yesterday."

"Stage two is complete. You have obtained a reward!" The announcement came just as Kusanagi picked up the chest.

Kusanagi let out another sigh of relief. "At last…" He said under his breath. "After that house, my nerves are shot."

"So what's in it, Kusanagi-san?" Yata asked.

"Just like yesterday." Kusanagi picked up the object inside the chest. "A note of some sort. It says 'GAME'."

"Do you think it has something to do with 'TOGETHER'?" Awashima frowned and began tapping her foot on the ground.

"Good question." Munakata said. "But I imagine we are all quite tired. Perhaps we should take a short rest."

"I agree." Kusanagi sat down on a chair around the table and the others followed, occupying the other seats.

"Too bad there isn't actual tea…" Kamamoto leaned back on his seat.

Kuroh turned to Kamamoto who was sitting in front of him. "If there was, would you really want to drink it?"

"… Yeah, I guess you're right." He deflated on his seat.

"I'd prefer to leave this place as soon as possible but I'm tired." Yata slumped down the chair.

Eventually, they all sat around the table, except for Fushimi, who insisted on investigating the entire garden. After a few minutes of rest, they headed out.

* * *

 

Just as before, once they got outside, the sun had already set.

"Seven o'clock." Munakata read the time on his PDA. "We cut it pretty close again."

They waited for Nagare or maybe Sukuna for a while, but neither of the two appeared.

"Guess they're not showing up." Yata snickered.

"You think he's off pouting somewhere?" Kamamoto joined the other on snickering.

"If things go the same as they did yesterday, the hotel should arrive at 10 o'clock, which gives us plenty of time. Should we go to the restaurant again?" Kusanagi suggested.

"Yes." Kuroh agreed. "I'm quite starving."

"Me too!" Kamamoto also voiced his agreement. "If I don't eat soon, I'm gonna die!"

"I thought you're suffering from summer fatigue?" Yata gave his friend a glance.

"But what we did was intense, Yata-san." Kamamoto tried to defend himself.

"Then it sounds like everyone is in agreement." Munakata said.

"Good." Kusanagi nodded. "The restaurant it is, then. We've got a lot to talk about."

With that, they were off. They hadn't gone that far before Fushimi headed off in a different direction.

"Where are you going, Fushimi?" Awashima, who was the first to notice, asked.

Fushimi stopped on his track. "Just off to look around. I'll catch up with the rest of you later."

"All right. Be careful." Awashima nodded at him.

As Yata watched him walk off, he felt strange, somewhat uneasy. He spent the rest of the walk trying to figure out what he'd felt, but before he knew it, they'd arrived. Just like before, the restaurant was being run by green clansmen.

* * *

 

"Man. Those guys must be working pretty hard to get all those traps up and running every day." Yata said, talking about the green clansmen.

"Seriously, I don't understand them at all." Kamamoto said before shoveling food into his mouth.

"Aren't you going pretty heavy there?" Yata eyed the amount of food on Kamamoto's plate.

"Huh? Oh." Kamamoto nervously chuckled. "Yeah, I just felt like eating something heavy today, you know?"

"I understand you." Kusanagi told Kamamoto. "But you need to watch your carbs. We don't want you suddenly going fat."

"O-Oh right." Kamamoto suddenly felt embarrassed with the rest looking at him. He went back to eating when Yata's custom-PDA watch began to ring.

"Hey, you can't contact the outside." Kuroh reminded Yata as the latter raised his arm.

"I didn't." Yata frowned. "Someone sent me a message." He looked at the sender, and his eyes widened. "It's from Shohei!"

"For real?!" Kamamoto quickly stood up and went behind Yata.

"Yeah!"

"Keep it quiet, you two." Kusanagi told them. "He might be listening."

"C'mon, Kusanagi-san. Hostages aren't outside the park, so we're not breaking any rules." Yata retorted.

"That excuse didn't go over well last time, remember?" Kuroh said then added. "If he finds out that we're talking to the hostages, I doubt he'd let it slide."

"Yatogami-kun is right." Munakata backed up.

Yata snorted before reading the text in silence, and then sent back a quick reply. It was only a few seconds before he got an answer. After several more messages, he was able to piece together what had happened to Shohei and the other hostages. The hostages were under guard but when some of the green clansmen left their post, Shohei had been able to contact Yata to let them know they were safe. Yata looked up at the others and nodded. They all seemed to understand. After checking to make sure they weren't being watched, Yata showed his PDA to them so they could see what he learned.

"We have to keep this a secret." Kusanagi said after reading the messages.

"I agree." Munakata said. "It might come in handy later."

"Did everybody hear that?" Kusanagi asked and the others nodded. "Good. Then I think we should… Hang on." He paused, realizing something. "Don't you think Fushimi should have gotten back by now?"

"Didn't notice till you mentioned it but yeah." Kamamoto nodded.

"I'll go see if I can find him." As Yata stood up to leave, he felt the same uneasiness from before.

"Do you think you'll be all right by yourself?" Awashima asked.

"I'll be fine. I'm just gonna take a look around." Yata gave them a quick reassuring grin, and headed out of the restaurant.

Outside, Yata breathed in cold night air then decided to start looking at the Racing Square.

"Woah-!" Then, just as he rounded the corner of a building, he saw him. "Saru-" He opened his mout to call out then stopped. It looked as if Fushimi was… talking to someone. Yata ducked behind the wall, then peeked out. He seemed to be using the statue with the screen in it that Nagare always appeared on. He felt his stomach flip-flop, just as the glow from the screen disappeared. He ducked back behind the wall on reflex. "Saru! There you are!" He called as if he just arrived.

Fushimi turned to him. Yata expected him to be a little startled but he seemed as unshakeable as ever.

"You were late so I went to look for you." Yata fought not to stutter. For now, he decided that it was better to keep his thought to himself.

"I was just on my way back."

"… Ah." Yata didn't want to mention what he'd seen directly but… "Did you… find anything?"

Fushimi eyed him. "Nothing much seems to have changed."

Yata didn't want to be suspicious but Fushimi was acting awfully strange. His mind battled whether it would be a good idea for him to the others? Or whether he should just keep what he'd seen to himself? While Fushimi just walked away.

* * *

 

The hotel eventually arrived and they all boarded it justlike before. Ultimately, Yata decided not to tell anyone about what he'd seen and kept his worries to himself. Fushimi didn't seem to be acting any differently.

Kamamoto sighed then said. "Finally done for today. I need to get rest now."

"Agreed." Kusanagi clapped Kamamoto's back. "We're all tired. We should go get some rest."

"You okay, Yata-san?" Kamamoto turned to Yata. "You've been pretty quiet for a while now… Wait, is the milk you drank finally catching up with you?!" He attempted to joke and possibly make his friend react.

"No! No, that's not it… I's just." Yata still looked solemn.

"Just… what?" Fushimi eyed him suspiciously.

"N-Nothing! I was just… thinking. Right! Just thinking!" Yata sounded suspiciously defensive.

"Calm down, everyone. He is a young hormonal teenage boy. No doubt his thoughts turn, from time to time, to the person he loves." Kusanagi smiled slyly.

"Wh-What?! N-No! No!" Heat quickly rushed to Yata's face as he flailed, flustered. "W-What are you saying, Kusanagi-san?!"

Kusanagi placed his arm on Yata's shoulder then turned to the others. "Isn't he cute when flustered?" He laughed.

"Don't make fun of me!" Yata turned and stalked off, his cheeks hot. He could hear them either chuckling or laughing out loud behind him. He sighed and headed for his room. There wasn't much point in talking about Fushimi until he knew more. Feeling eyes on him, Yata glanced around and spotted the woman green vassal watching him from the hallway. He cocked his head and the woman nodded at him. He shrugged it off and headed for his room.

Upon entering, Yata collapsed unto his bed. He rolled over and let out a long sigh. Feeling still kind of worked up, he decided to go outside and get some air. With a deep breath, he picked himself up and headed out of the room.

Unable to stop worrying about Fushimi, though he won't admit it openly, and what he might have been up to, he went to find him.

"Hey, Saru!" He called when he found Fushimi on the deck, just like the other day.

"What's wrong, Misaki?" Fushimi sounded tired.

Yata stiffened, debating whether to confront him or not. "Nothing really. Just enjoying the night air." Deciding, he was not ready to know what Fushimi was up to, -if he was going to be betrayed again- he lied.

"Stop lying, Misaki." Fushimi deadpanned. "You're afraid of the dark."

Yata groaned. "I was feeling too worked up." He sighed. "Anyway, you saved my ass back there at the challenge. Thanks." He said, tasting the word of gratitude on his mouth. Deciding he was getting used to it, he smiled.

"Am I hearing this right?" Fushimi chuckled in a mocking way. "You're thanking me again?"

"What the heck, Saru?" He sat down on the deck. "Here I am trying to be sincere and you decide to be a jerk." He laid down. Fushimi leaned on the railing with Yata just beside him.

They stayed quiet until Fushimi decided to tease Yata again. "Are you thinking of the person you love again?" He grinned playfully.

Having had enough of the joke, Yata abruptly stood up with his face red. "So what if I am?!" He yelled and stalked off leaving Fushimi slightly surprised.

Fushimi chuckled as he watch Yata disappear back inside then turned back to the water before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There're so many dialogues! -cries a river-  
> Too be honest, I have always thought that the Mad Hatter was the host of the tea party before I played Sweet Fuse. XD  
> Goodness. When will I get used to this? I typed this in a whole day. I would often stop because my shoulder would start to ache and my... butt was getting numb for sitting so long.  
> Also, I'm having a hard time updating because of our expensive yet uber slow internet connection. -_- I've been trying to update since 6 pm HKT. And what time is it now? 5 am. 5 freaking AM! Wtf. And it decided to be a dick and deleted half of the chapter! I only added a few words and didn't touch anything else! I'm sorry but I'm just so pissed off at the telecom companies here and their shitty services.  
> Anyway, I might update again in a week or so.  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> R&R


	5. Stage III: Bloodstained Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own K nor Sweet Fuse 
> 
> How I wish this is original but it's not. I only changed and added things to make them stay (even if it's just a little bit) in character and make it more K-ish.
> 
> I forgot to say this. In here, I imagined Yata and Fushimi liking each other since middle school but never crossed any line past friendship. Also, I wanted to make this rated M but I don't know how to write sex scenes. LOL
> 
> I'd also like to apologize. A week became almost 2 months. Lol. Sorry. I have no excuse. I'm just lazy. I don't even have any motivation and sometimes thought to drop this. X'D

_Yata let out a shaky breath, taking in the sight before him with wide and trembling eyes. Everyone has fallen and laid bloody on the ground. Kusanagi... Kuroh... Even the Blue King hadn't anticipated what just happened._

_"AAARGH!" A familiar voice cried out in pain. He turned his head to his left and saw Fushimi. Fushimi who was laughing as he dug the heel of his shoe on Kamamoto's bloody leg wound._

_"Let him go!" Yata shouted with what was left of his strength after losing too much blood. He lifted his body slightly and crawled, leaving a bloody trail on the wake of his path. He winced with his sword wound on both his legs and stomach, which he received from a fight with Yukari, started to hurt more._

_Another pained scream tore out of Kamamoto's mouth as Fushimi continued digging his heel on Kamamoto's wound._

_"STOP IT!" Yata screamed but his voice fell on deaf ears. He grunted in pain as Sukuna straddled his back, putting pressure on his stomach wound. He tried to shake him off with what his weak body could muster but Sukuna only laughed at his misery. His attempts of shaking off the kid halted when scream, louder than what he heard before, filled the area. Yata quickly looked at the sight before him and saw Fushimi had stabbed Kamamoto on the ribs._

_"SARUHIKO!!!" Yata screamed with hate and wild eyes. Fushimi turned to him with a malicious grin as he pulled out his Scepter 4 issued sword enveloped with green aura out of Kamamoto._

**_Fushimi betrayed them._ **

* * *

 

"Gah!" Yata shot up out of bed, startled awake by a _bad dream._ "Damn it!" He cursed, punching the bed. The dream was probably just his brain trying to deal with what he'd seen Fushimi doing last night but he was still shaken. He let out a shaky breath and calmed his fingers through his hair as he checked the clock. It was still early. Too restless to go back to sleep, he hopped out of bed and began to get ready, but before long he heard a knock at the door.  He peered through the peephole to see the Green's woman standing outside so he opened the door to let her in.

"Good morning." The woman greeted, which Yata returned with a shy and stuttering greeting, and then pulled in a room service cart. Whatever was on it smelled incredible, and made Yata's stomach rumble in response.

The woman chuckled causing Yata to flush red. "S-So what's for breakfast?" He asked in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

The woman pulled the lid off the tray revealing a delicious-looking spread of Japanese style cooked fish.

"Wh-Whoa! Looks great!" Yata exclaimed, causing another chuckle from the woman.

"Enjoy your breakfast." She left with a bow.

* * *

 

Yata  took his time with his breakfast, and when he finally finished it was nearly time to meet up with the others. He changed to the clothes that looked like something he would wear provided in the closet and headed down to the lobby.

"Good morning, Yata-san!" Kamamoto greeted as soon as he saw him.

Yata stopped on his track, rememberimg his dream.

"Is something wrong?" Kamamoto looked worried and confused.

Yata chastised himself in his mind for dwelling too much on that dream then continued walking. "Nothing. Good morning." It was just a dream. Fushimi won't betray them... right? He felt anxious.

Everyone was waiting in the lobby, just like the day before. Everyone, that is, except Fushimi. Yata couldn't help but feel his unwanted suspicions grow stronger.

Deciding to look for Fushimi, Yata spun around and collided with the man himself. "Woah!"

"Watch it." Fushimi looked down at him before joining the others.

They began talking about their plans for the day but Yata didn't feel like joining and instead found himself gazing out of the window at the waters beyond. He sighed and kept replaying what he'd seem Fushimi doing over and over his head.  _What did it mean?_

"Is something the matter, Yata-chan?" Yata turned around and saw Kusanagi. "You look rather troubled."

"No, I'm fine..." Yata paused. ' _Should I tell him about what I'd seen? It's Kusanagi-san after all. Would that make me feel better?_

 _No... probably not. I need to make sure first. I can't trouble Kusanagi-san any more than he already is. I'll look into this myself.'_ "Yeah, nothing wrong here!"

"Alright but do not feel like you must exceed your limits for our sake. You've been a great help from the start. Your own health is important." Kusanagi ruffled Yata's hair before returning to the others.

* * *

 

Just as it had the day before, the boat docked at the plaza in front of the castle.

"I wonder what sort of madness our troublemakers has for us today." Kusanagi said as he stared at the pig statue in front of the castle.

"Something awful, of course." Kuroh answered.

They talked for a bit, discussing what might happen today, but before long they were interrupted by a voice they'd come to hate.

"Good morning, everyone!" Sukuna greeted. "I hope you all slept well!" He seems to be happy today and it made the others uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Kamamoto asked. "He's pretty damn cheerful."

"He's probably up to something." Kuroh turned to Kamamoto.

"Actually, we have a biiig surprise for all of you!" Sukuna drew a huge circle in the air with his hands.

"I don't like the sound of that." Awashima said.

"You see... There's a traitor among you!" The brat laughed as if he said the funniest joke ever.

Yata felt his stomach twist in his gut. His eyes flicked to Fushimi before he could stop them.  _'N-No, he can't be telling the truth... This has to be some kind of trickery!'_ Yata's mind went wild. He felt the atmosphere grow suddenly tense.

Then Kuroh spoke. "Don't listen to him. Where's the proof? He's just trying to drive a wedge between us after the teamwork he was last night."

"Exactly." Munakata agreed."Isn't it, Fushimi-kun?"

Fushimi glared at his king for a second but nodded nonetheless.

If Yata hadn't seen Fushimi with the statue the day before, he would have agreed especially when his relationship with Fushimi's starting to improve just a little bit, but as things were... This just makes Fushimi suspicious.

"What's wrong, Yata-san?" Kamamoto's voice pulled Yata out of his thoughts. "You look like you're only half here."

"H-Huh? Oh, sorry... Did I really look out of it?"

"Yeah. You really shouldn't take anything that brat says without, like, twenty grains of salt."

"You're right. I know, it's just..."

"Hey, believe me, Yata-san. I know how you feel." Kamamoto made a quick side glance at Fushimi. "But it's more likely he's just trying to shake us up."

"Yeah, I know. Shouldn't let the brat have the satisfaction!" Yata gave him the best grin he could manage, and tried to act like everything was all right.

Sukuna spoke again. "All I'm saying is you shouldn't let your guard down just because you think you're pals now." He laughed. "Oh! Right! Nagare said that the use of PDAs in any of our little games in the future is completely against the rules. They make things so boring." He said, making a face. "Now that we've got that out of the way, let's move along to the next attraction! Today's game is waiting!"

* * *

 

The group walked forward to the next game in silence until Awashima decided to break it.

"I assume that we all agree that the kid is only trying to shake us, correct?" She asked and the others nodded. "Good. Incidentally, what is our destination?"

"It's the Bloodstained Hospital." Kamamoto answered and Yata tensed up. "The original game is a survival-horror game set in rural Japan."

Kusanagi turned to Kamamoto, who was walking beside him. "You sound like you know quite a bit. I take it that you played it?"

"My childhood friend forced me to it."

"You mean your girlfriend who came to the bar before?"

"I said childhood friend, Kusanagi-san." Kamamoto sweat dropped. "She's not my girlfriend." He sighed then continued. "Anyway, in the game you explore an abandoned hospital with a flashlight, and try to avoid zombies. It's a little different from most games because instead of a health bar it has a terror gauge, and when your terror maxes out, you die."

"A horror game..." Kuroh paused when he caught something in his peripheral vision. "Will you be okay?" He asked to Yata who was trembling a little bit.

Yata quickly whipped his head, turning to face Kuroh. "W-Why won't I be?!" He snorted. "I-I've played this game with my siblings. M-Maybe you're the one who's not okay?"

 Kuroh stared at him for a second. "That doesn't sound and look convincing when you're trembling like a newborn fawn."

Before Yata could retort, Kusanagi grabbed his head and said: "Come on. Let's stop dawdling and wasting time here."

* * *

 

The Bloodstained Hospital was strange ruined building with a giant syringe stuck into it and Yata whimpered at the sight of it.

"Hello, everyone." Nagare's voice rang. "I apologize for not showing up earlier. I'd want to talk more but it's time for everyone to step into the Bloodstained Hospital of Terror to find its secret and escape. What do you think? I must say it's pretty easy and simple. That is all. Farewell."

"Let's move it, people." Kusanagi led them.

No sooner had they approached the entrance than they encountered their first obstacle: There were three huge doors instead of a single one.

"...So can we enter whichever one we want?" Kamamoto asked.

"Wait." Awashima called his attention before he does something. "There is something written over them."

Yata squinted his eyes and took a closer look together with Kamamoto. "What language is that? I can't read it..."

"It's Italian." Kusanagi said, walking closer to where his fellow red clansmen are. "It translates to 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

"You know Italian, Kusanagi-san?" Yata incredulously stared at him.

"Well, traveling and reading does wonders, Yata-chan."

"Ah yes..." Munakata nodded. "The gate of Hell from the famous novel, Dante's Inferno."

Placing his thumb and index finger on his chin, Kusanagi hummed. "What do you think?" He turned to Munakata. "Should we all enter one door or split up? I'm worried what might happen if we split inside."

"Considering the time limit, I'm concerned that sending all of us through one door could end up wasting time. I think our best course of action is going to be to split up. We'll just have to balance the teams."

"How do you suggest we split up?" Kuroh asked.

"I will go with Captain." Awashima immediately declared.

"That leaves two teams left." Kamamoto saaid. "I guess it's me, Kusanagi-san and Yata-san then."

"No. You will go with Yatogami." Kusanagi told his comrade. "You and Yata-chan know the game. We don't need you to be together. Also, I'm pretty sure Yata-chan'll be useless inside." Yata spluttered at being called useless. "He might do something rash that's why I'll keep an eye on him." He explained and Kamamoto nodded. "Fushimi'll also go with us. Is that okay?" He turned to Munakata, asking permission.

"Of course."

Yata glanced over at Fushimi while everyone was busy discussing their plan, but he just looked just like he always did: totally unconcerned.

"Alright." Kusanagi said. "Be careful, everyone. If something happens... well, without our PDAs, there's not much we can do, honestly."

"Hopefully we will find a way to persevere on our own." Kuroh said.

"I'm ready to take whatever they've got!" Kamamoto beamed. "We've already beaten two games. We can do this!"

They nodded to each other as a green clansman came out of the building to meet them.

"Put these on." The man handed several watch-like things to them.

"Are these watches?" Kuroh asked as he started to inspect the object. "There's a button on the side." When he pressed the button, the LCD panel lit up."

"Is this a heart rate monitor?" Kusanagi, who already pressed the button, asked. "See, there's a little heart icon next to the number."

"Then this must be our terror gauges." Kamamoto said before wearing it to his left wrist.

"Interesting." Munakata smiled. "Then they will use our heart rates to determine our level of terror. Beat too fast, and it's game over."

"That's right." The green clansman nodded, not even bothering to show even an ounce of respect for the Blue King. "If three of you get a game over then you'll all fail the game."

"That means we have two left since that punk will surely get a game over." Fushimi frowned at Yata.

"What the fuck are you trying to say, asshole?! I ain't scared!" Yata's heart rate monitor started to beep wildly.

"See?" Fushimi snorted. "We haven't even entered yet and your heart rate already spiked up."

"This piece of shit." Yata growled.

"Yata-chan, calm down." Kusanagi placed his hand on Yata's shoulder. "You too, Fushimi. I'll appreciate it if you stop provoking him." He turned to Fushimi who only looked down and clicked his tongue. Kusanagi turned back to Yata. "I know you're not good with things like this and it's easier said than done, but try not to get too scared, alright Yata-chan?"

Yata hesistantly nodded.

They split off into their groups. Yata, Fushimi and Kusanagi headed to the leftmost door.

"I'm guessing this flashlight is for us." Kusanagi plucked the flashlight from the hook on the side of the entrance and pushed the door open but not before asking the teenagers with him if they were ready.

Yata trembled at the sight that greeted him. There was dried blood splattered on the walls and ground, the whole place smelled dank and moldy, and it was cold enough to make him shiver.

"Let's go. Make sure you don't get separated." With only a flashlight to see by, they headed deeper into the hospital with Kusanagi leading. Their footsteps sounded loud in the empty hallway, and when a voice suddenly echoed over the intercom, Yata nearly screamed.

"Listen... this labyrinth of the dead devours the souls of the living. Listen to the footsteps of the creeping death..." The announcer said.

"What does that mean?" Kusanagi was obviously confused. "Well, let's take a look around some more." The flashlight showed them the decayed, peeling walls of the hallway, and pieces of... something... scattered across the floor. "Let's keep moving."

"Gah!" Yata felt something crunch underneath his foot. The alarm on his terror gauge began to go off.

"Calm down, Yata-chan. It was just a chunk of concrete." Kusanagi laid a reassuring hand on Yata's shoulder.

"R-Right." Yata lifted his foot and saw that it was only, indeed, a chunk of concrete. He took slow, deep breaths, and after a few seconds the alarm slowed, and finally stopped. "I'm sorry, Kusanagi-san."

"What an idiot." Fushimi mumbled.

"As long as you're still in the game, we're fine." Kusanagi turned back to the path. The announcement hadn't been metaphorical when it described the hospital as a labyrinth. The hallways turned and twisted everywhere, like a maze.

"It feels like we could get lost in here really easily." Fushimi mumbled to himself again.

"You're right." Kusanagi, who heard him, agreed. "We should mark our path." He crouched down and picked up a chunk of concrete using it to draw an 'X' mark on the painted walls. "Not much but this should help us find our way back and if we're running into circles." The group moved on.

Yata kept chanting  _'Mikoto-san, Totsuka-san, please help me.'_ in his mind as they moved forward, hoping that as long as he didn't think about how creepy the place was, he wouldn't set off his terror gauge again.

Kusanagi kept leaving marks behind them as they moved, and eventually arrived at a staircase leading to the second floor.

"There's a directory here." Fushimi called the two.

"Really?" Kusanagi moved beside Fushimi with Yata trailing behind him. "Let's have a look..." He hummed after bringing up the flashlight to illuminate the directory. "Nightmare Maze, Vivisection Lab, Records." He read the names of the marked rooms. "Looks like we've got a long way to go."

"Let's hurry and leave this place, Kusanagi-san." Yata looked and sounded anxious.

"Alright." They continued talking as they climbed the stairs, and at the top they found another pitch-black hallway.

Yata looked left and right. "The maze is going to make meeting our deadline tough. Do you think there are going to be traps and stuffs too?"

"I'd be surprised if there  _weren't_ any." Fushimi looked tired of dealing with whatever was coming to them.

Yata was about to say something when he tensed up and started to look terrified. "I-I heard something!"

"Of course." Fushimi glared. "I was talking."

"That's not what I mean!" Yata returned the glare. "Just listen."

They quieted down and listened. From somewhere in the maze they could hear a slow, awkward shuffling noise. Whatever it was, it was coming closer.

"I'll go check it out." Kusanagi shoved the flashlight into Fushimi's hands as he spoke, then moved up to the intersection and peeked around the corner. "Turn off the light!" He signaled to Fushimi. Fushimi turned the flashlight off, and Kusanagi made his way back toward them.

"Wh-What was it?" Yata nervously asked.

"A monster..." Kusanagi looked serious.

Yata's eyes widened. At Kusanagi's direction, they hid themselves behind a nearby pillar as the noise came steadily closer and closer.

 _'Calm down.'_ Yata chanted those words to himself over and over, willing his heart to slow down and not trip his terror gauge. After a few minutes, a shadow carrying a lantern stepped into the intersection. Yata's hands flew into Fushimi's arm and squeezed it with all his might causing the latter to hiss in pain.

Kusanagi had been right to call it a monster. The creature's skin was peeling off, and its body was warped and twisted by scars and lesions. Moaning, labored breathing accompanied its shuffling footsteps. In one hand it carried a submachine gun that looked sort of like an Uzi.

Yata shut his eyes closed tightly, but as he did the alarm on his bracelet suddenly began to ring. "Ah!" Before Yata could even react, Fushimi put his hand over the bracelet, muffling the noise.

"Relax." He told Yata.

"R-Right." Yata shut his eyes again and willed his heart to calm down.

"Just stay calm. Your heart rate will slow down again." They kept their bodies as still as statues. Seeing as the pistol from yesterday's game was real, it could also be the same with the submachine gun.

 _'Calm down. Calm down.'_ Yata breathed rhythmically.

"Maybe I should just knock you out." He heard Fushimi mumble.

 _'Ah. That did it.'_ "Asshole." At last, the alarm from Yata's bracelet went silent.

"... Looks like it's gone." Kusanagi told them. "But... what  _was_ that?"

"It looked like a zombie." Fushimi answered as he stared at the corner the zombie disappeared into.

"... That wasn't a real zombie, right? There's  _no way_ the Greens can revive someone, right?" Yata sounded frantic.

"I'm not sure what the model was, but that looked like a submachine gun he was carrying." Kusanagi decided to ignore Yata's question since he, himself, had no idea what that was. "Even an amateur could fill you full of lead with one of those." Sweat trickled down his temple. "Well, we've still got to make it through here without setting off our terror gauges; now we've got to watch out for zombies too..."

They headed deeper in, taking care to listen for more zombies. The further they went, though, the more the hallways crisscrossed, meaning zombies could come from any direction. Yata looked at Kusanagi and Fushimi. The two looked fine which made him wonder if they are even scares at all. He forced himself to take long, deep breaths in an attempt to calm his racing heartbeat, but...

"Aiiiiieeeee!!!"

"Gah!" Yata felt like someone had thrown his chest in a vice. He found himself grabbing onto the one closer to him, which was Fushimi, before he even realized what he was doing.

"Calm down." Fushimi looked down at Yata who gripped his arm again. "And let go."

 _Click._  A flash went off. "Calm down, Yata-chan." Kusanagi said as he pocketed his PDA. "What we heard was Kamamoto."

"O-Oh... Oh." Yata slowly let go of Fushimi's arm. "S-Sorry."  _'Goddamn it. I can't keep relying on Kusanagi-san. I need to work on handling my own problems myself.'_

Fushimi and Kusanagi walked ahead of Yata. "That wasn't Kamamoto." Fushimi whispered to the older man.

"Yeah. I hope I'm not wrong..." Kusanagi paused. "But it sounded like Eric. He could help us."

Fushimi stared at the older man.

Kusanagi continued. "Still, whether it's Eric or a civilian, we have to find him quickly. They could get killed here. If worse comes to worst and we fail, the explosion would definitely kill them." That being said, they headed off to the direction of the scream, making sure to keep their eyes open for zombies.

"Aaaaargh!!!"

"There it is again!" Yata exclaimed. "Somehow... it sounded like Eric?"

"We're getting close." They spotted a dim red light coming from around a corner to the left, the same direction the voice had come from. They rounded the corner and saw a zombie heading down the corner, away from them.

"There!" Yata pointed, suddenly forgetting his fear. Further down the hallway was a shadow of someone else running away from the zombie.

"I think you're looking for us!" Kusanagi suddenly yelled causing Fushimi to whip his head towards him. The zombie's shuffling footsteps stopped, and it slowly turned to face them. "They aren't very fast." Kusanagi told the two. "We should be able to loop around and go after whoever it was chasing!"

Kusanagi yelled at the zombie again and waved the flashlight. Then they all turned and ran. The moment they'd rounded the corner, they heard the crackle of gunfire behind them. "Damn." Kusanagi cursed. "He's not going to pull any punches, is he?"

As they drew around the next corner, Fushimi turned and tossed something out across the intersection they'd just come through.

"What was that?" Kusanagi stopped running to turn to Fushimi.

"Flashdrive containing reports. It's troublesome to write them again but it's sure not worth my life. I might as well use it as distraction." Fushimi answered and ran off. The other two following him. They heard the sound of gunfire move off in the direction where Fushimi had thrown the flashdrive. It looked like the diversion had worked. They rounded another corner and were back in the hallway where they'd first seem the zombie. In front of them was a door illuminated by several emergency lights.

Kusanagi took few seconds to breathe before he spoke. "That has to be the exit. They must have gone through there." Yata nodded and they leapt through the door.

The damp , moldy smell was gone, replaced by the harsh, antiseptic smell of a functioning hospital.

"This is an operating room, isn't it?" Yata asked as he looked around. In the center of the room was a surgical table, with various unpleasant-looking tools laid out across it. The general creepiness of the room brought him up short, and he took a tentative step back as two other doors opened and the rest of their party appeared.

"Is everyone all right?" Kusanagi asked the others who looked out of breath.

"Yeah, I guess so." Kamamoto answered.

"Thank goodness nobody got hurt." Awashima sighed, visibly relieved.

Slowly, a figure crept out of the shadows under the surgical table. "Eric!" The red clansmen exclaimed almost at the same time.

Before they could bombard him questions, an announcement blared out of the speakers. "The Nightmare Maze has been completed." Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Glad we're done with that damn maze." Yata breathed. "But how did you get here?" He turned to Eric.

"What are you doing here?" Kamamoto added.

"I saw the video feed from the Green clan with Kusanagi-san and Kamamoto." Eric answered Yata's question then turned to Kamamoto. "You've been gone for three days now so Anna got worried and asked me to look for you guys."

"Wait." Kuroh decided to join the conversation."Isn't him being here a violation of rules?"

"You're right." Kusanagi agreed. "Eric, did any green clansmen see you?"

"No." The teenager shook his head. "I made sure no one had seen me. There were cameras but I managed to evade them. This room is safe of them."

"I have a question, Eric-kun." Munakata joined in their small circle. "Can you use your aura?" Eric nodded though reluctantly. "Have you encountered the zombies?" Eric nodded again. "Did you try to fight them?"

Eric nodded once more. "I did fight them but they just kept getting up! It's like their real zombies!"

"That means we have to avoid them at all cost seeing as we can't do anything about them." Awashima said.

"Eric, listen to me." Kusanagi said with all seriousness in his voice. "I want you to escape here. Tell Anna that we're okay and tell this to  _him_..."

* * *

 

"Good.Let's go over the layout." Kusanagi began to explain what he and his team learned. "The room goes 'Nightmare Maze,' 'Vivisection Lab,' and 'Records.'"

"Then that makes this the Vivisection Lab?" Kamamoto asked in confirmation. "No wonder this place is giving me the creeps."

"Then that table..." Kuroh trailed as he glanced at the table situated in the middle of the room.

"N-No!" Yata screeched. "H-How about we don't think about that? Besides, this is just an amusement park! It's mot like they actually c-cut people open here!" He panted after his tirade.

"Right." Kusanagi patted Yata's back to calm him down. "Let's take a look around then. Remember: Keep calm."

As they moved off to examine the rest of the room, Yata tried to figure out how maybe he could siphon off some courage when Awashima suddenly spoke up.

"I think there's some kind of lock on the door over here."

Kusanagi went over and examined the doorknob closely but was careful not to actually touch it. "Huh... this knob doesn't have a keyhole.'

"Maybe we're just supposed to force it..." Kamamoto said. He strode over and reached for the doorknob-

"This is your warning. Having performed countless experiments on others, the time has come for me to be the subject of one. You must escape before you become an undead monster with no will of your own. To find the message I have left, crawl along the earth and look to the heavens."

Kamamoto froze with his hand on the doorknob and looked around as the announcement finished.

"... That one was really creepy. It was like they were talking directly to us, don't you think so, Chihuahua?" Eric turned to Yata, knowing it will scare the latter.

"Stop that!" Yata yelled.

"'Crawl along the earth and look to the heavens'..." Kusanagi sighed. "Not sure what that's supposed to mean."

"That is a hint for sure." Munakata said. "We just need to figure out what it's for."

"I guess we have to start looking." Kuroh said and some sighed but started looking over the room anyway.

"This place is full of creepy stuff." Yata shivered.

"Isn't it the point though, Yata-san?" Kamamoto looked down at the man beside him.

"Hey!" Fushimi called the attention of the two. "Have you checked that cabinet?"

"Huh? No. Let's see..." Kamamoto and Yata began to go through the cabinet.

"... What are these? Medicine?" Yata asked.

"Hold on." Kusanagi went over to them. "That could be dangerous. Let me see it."

Kamamoto, Yata and Fushimi went out of the way, and Kusanagi began to take the bottles out of the cabinet and set them on a wheeled cart.

"Let's see..." Kusanagi took one bottle. "This one is just saline solution." For each bottle, he first squinted at the label then popped it open to smell the contents.

Perhaps in an attempt to be helpful or out of curiosity, Yata grabbed hold of one of the bottles and studied it with care. "Hmmm..."

"Ah! Yata-san-!" Before Kamamoto could stop him, Yata had twisted the cap off and taken a big sniff. Whatever was inside didn't seem pleasant, and he started coughing.

"Ugh! This is really smelly!" Yata threw another coughing fit. Amidst of coughing, he still managed to cap the bottle before falling on the ground. The bottle rolled on the floor away as Yata slumped on the floor and used his hands to cover his nose and mouth.

"Yata-chan!" The red clansmen together with Kuroh crowded him. "You alright?" Kusanagi asked as Yata stopped coughing. "Do your eyes hurt or anything?'

"No... I'm okay." Yata answered. When he managed to stand up, Fushimi rounded him.

"What were you thinking?!" Fushimi yelled. "Can't you be careful once in a while?"

"Hey now..." Kusanagi tried to stop and calm Fushimi.

"It could have been something dangerous!" Fushimi's terror gauge started to beep.

Eric stood in front of Yata and glared at Fushimi. A Blue clansman telling off the chihuahua just didn't sit well with him. "Hey, nothing extreme happened. I know how you're feeling and you have a history with him but why don't you just lay it off?"

"Don't act like you understand what I feel and my relationship with him is none of your concern." Fushimi growled.

Munakata cleared his throat. "I know the tensions are high, but we must calm ourselves. No one has been hurt."

Fushimi clicked his tongue, the wild worried look on his eyes disappearing and the beeping of his terror gauge slowed to a stop.

"Yata-chan, don't you have something to say?" Kusanagi turned to Yata.

Yata looked down, he felt like a kid being reprimanded by his mother. "I'm sorry."

"How about you, Fushimi-kun?" Munakata turned to his vassal with a smile. "I know you were just worried but don't you also have anything to say?"

Fushimi clicked his tongue again. "I'm sorry." He said but didn't sound anything remotely close to apologetic.

"... Okay." Kamamoto spoke up. "Let's, uh, go back to looking around?"

"Agreed." Awashima nodded. "Yata seems to be fine now."

* * *

 

They spent the next forty-five minutes or so checking every corner, but couldn't turn up anything that looked promising.

"Did you notice that all these knives and stuff are fake? They're glued to the table." Kuroh told them.

"So those bottles are the only 'real' things?" Awashima asked.

"Yes." Kuroh answered. "And that makes them suspicious."

Kusanagi gathered up all the bottles and arranged them on top of the surgery table.

"We found nine bottles but, uh, now we've only got eight." Kamamoto said.

"So what are we supposed to do with them?" Kusanagi asked as he eyed the bottles.

"Each one got a label on it... Nitric acid, saline solution, methanol..." Kamamoto carefully lifted the bottles to read their labels.

Yata looked utterly confused. "I don't get it... What was the hint again?"

"'Crawl along the earth and look to the heavens,' or something." Kamamoto recited unsurely. "Although I'll be damned if I know what it means."

They all set to thinking about the hint, and silence fell over the room. After a few minutes, Yata noticed that Eric was looking kind of puzzled. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"I... just remembered that there's something on the table."

"Really?" Kusanagi asked. "Where?"

Eric nodded. "Underneath..." He pointed to the far side of the surgery table.

Kusanagi walked over and crouched down to take a look. "It's a drawing... It looks like a crown, and... three drops of water."

"If it's on the underside, does that mean that this is a low-rain king table?" Yata suddenly blurted out.

"Shut up." Eric, Kuroh, and Fushimi said in unison.

"F-Fine! You obviously don't appreciate quality humor anyway!"

"It appears to be written in blood which suggests to me that it has greater meaning than a rebus describing relative standing of a table." Munakata said.

As they continued to discuss the meaning of the drawing, Fushimi started to form an idea in his mind, occasionally mumbling.

"Did you figure something out, Fushimi?" Awashima asked.

"The images could be read as 'royal water,' and the specific number of drops indicates to me that this is a recipe." Fushimi answered. "It then follows that the 'ingredients' are nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. After all, royal water is just another name for-"

"Aqua regia!" Yata finished Fushimi's sentence.

"I'm surprised that you know it, Yata-chan." Kusanagi looked genuinely surprised.

"Well... I learned it because of him when we still lived together." Yata answered, almost in a whisper.

"What's aqua regia?" Kamamoto asked.

"Aqua regia is an extremely corrosive solution that can dissolve traditionally in-dissolve-able metals such as gold or platinum." Munakata enlightened them.

"So we just have to mix them together?" Kusanagi asked Fushimi. Three drops... that's water, so that must mean... three parts hydrochloric acid? Then the crown would be one part nitric."

"Yes." Fushimi nodded.

"Then let's get to it." Kusanagi picked up the two bottles and looked around. "Anything around here we can mix these in?"

"How about this?" Kuroh handed a beaker he'd found on the ground to Kusanagi.

"Good." Kusanagi nodded. "You should all probably stand back. We don't know what might happen..." He carefully measured out the right amounts of each substance and added them to the beaker, which was soon filled with a reddish-orange liquid. "I guess we're supposed to pour it on that keyless lock now." He lifted the beaker.

"Let me do it, Kusanagi-san!" Kamamoto looked eager. Kusanagi humored him and handed the beaker. Kamamoto walked over to the lock then upended the beaker of aqua regia over it. "Oh! It's melting!" He exclaimed as he watched the doorknob melt. The melted knob fell to the floor with a thud, as it did the PA crackled to life again. "Vivisection Lab complete."

"Let's move, everyone." Kusanagi told them. "The clock is ticking."

Yata watched as everyone filed out of the room one by one, a decision forming in his head.  _'He wouldn't help us if he's a traitor, right? But he might just be waiting for the right moment.'_ He wanted to scream.  _'I'll just ask him. Right here, right now. I need to get this out of my mind. I need to concentrate on the games and not let this bother me anymore.'_ He took a deep breath and strode up to Fushimi. "Hey!" He called and grabbed Fushimi's coat. Everyone else had already left and they were alone.

"What?" Fushimi looked annoyed as he stared at the offending hand that was grabbing his arm and could possibly be crumpling his pristine  _blue_ coat.

"... Last night." Yata clenched the cloth tighter. "I... saw you talking to someone through the pig statue."

The younger one blinked in surprise but his expression quickly twisted in a sour grimace. He wanted to brush off Yata but seeing the hopeful look that didn't want to be betrayed again causes him to bite the inside of his right cheek then click his tongue and turn his head to his side. "It's nothing..."

Yata's terror gauge went off suddenly but he didn't seem to notice. "You told me to trust you!" He yelled with wild worried expression. "... But how can I do that if you're like this?! You won't tell me anything then you'll leave me behind guessing what the fuck is going on and what the fuck is wrong! You just disappear from my side!" Even when his terror gauge stopped beeping and flashed red with GAME OVER written on the LCD panel, Yata continued to yell but his voice sounded like he's crying. He released Fushimi's arm and grabbed the front of the latter's coat in exchange, pulling him forward and resting the top of his head on the taller man's chest. "You know that I'm an idiot. I'm slow to catch up. I can't possibly understand you if you don't talk to me." Yata's voice finally sounded weak and Fushimi swore that Yata's crying.

Fushimi stared at the mop chestnut-colored hair resting on his chest. He was almost startled when someone cleared his throat. He turned to the door and saw Kusanagi smile at him then tap on his wristwatch before leaving the two alone again. Fushimi looked down at Yata who didn't seem to have noticed Kusanagi. He then let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm Scepter 4's third-in-command and given my history with you red sc-... HOMRA, of course, the Green clan will contact me." He sighed again. "They asked me to work for them."

Yata immediately let go of Fushimi's coat and rubbed his eyes furiously before looking up at Fushimi. "You refused, right?" His eyes shone with traces of tears.

"Of course. I see no merit in working for them." Fushimi turned around then headed to the exit. "I won't betray anyone. Not you." He mumbled.

"What?"

"I said let's follow the others if you don't have anymore questions."

Yata paused and smiled. "Allright!" Then went out of the room.

"Good. You caught up." Kusanagi said as he saw Yata and Fushimi walk up to them. "Let's get moving. We only have two hours left until the deadline."

"Right! Let's go!" Yata cheered. He obviously looked better.

Kusanagi walked up beside Yata and ruffled his hair. "I'm happy for you." He said, leaving him confused.

* * *

 

"This should be the last room." Kuroh looked around the room. There were several wooden desks spaced evenly throughtout the room. On top of each one  was a mountain of documents and old computers. Surrounding the desks were rows of bookshelves.

"Look at that..." Eric pointed. On top of one of the desks was treasure chest about the size of an open hand. Next to it was a pair or clippers.

Kamamoto went over to the chest. "Hnnng!" He grunted as he tried to lift the box. "Looks like it's glued to the desk."

"We won't be moving it then." Eric moved beside Kamamoto.

"Don't try and force it." Kusanagi told the two. The two stepped aside as Kusanagi approached the box and slowly opened the lid. "This is-!" Inside was a smaller box with several colorful wires sprouting out of it. The wires ran to an LCD panel that read '14:56.' As they watched, it changed to 14:55 then 14:54...

"Holy shit." Yata cursed out loud as he saw the ticking object. "It's a fucking bomb!"

Kamamoto looked nervous. "I-Is this the bomb that's gonna blow up the whole attraction if we lose?"

"Whoa! Whoa! No way! We've still got two hours left!" Yata shuffled around. "The timer only has 14 minutes!"

"Farewell, bloodstained hospital. All these sins are yours, so that I might escape this purgatory." The voice of the announcer filled the room, and then was gone.

"Oh crap! Crap! Crap!" Kamamoto panicked more but kept his heart rate in check. "I just remembered, in the original the main character is a scientist, and he escapes and blows up the hospital to destroy all the zombie research!"

Munakata suddenly spoke up. "So I guess for our last puzzle, all we have to do is use the clippers to cut the wires."

"... Which wires?" Eric nervously asked. "There are seven."

"Wait." Kuroh said. "If there's just one correct wire, we've only got one in seven chance of getting it?"

"Relax..." Kusanagi sighed in an attempt to calm himself. "We all need to stay calm, especially now, and think this through. First, what are the failure conditions?"

"Our heart rates are monitored by the terror gauges. If one becomes too agitated, their gauge will reach its limit and that person will be 'out .'" Awashima answered.

"If three individuals read 'game over' status, then we have, as a whole, failed this attraction. We have one who lost which is not surprising." Kuroh added, causing Yata to grunt in guilt.

"If the time on that bomb reaches zero, then it's game over, and there's only thirteen minutes left!" Yata exclaimed. "And if we cut the wrong wires, then we're really in trouble."

"... Okay, so, what do we do?" Kuroh surveyed the area.

"We keep our heart rates down, figure out which wire to cut, and do it before time runs out." Munakata said, calm as always.

"Exactly." Kusanagi nodded in agreement. "Now, let's examine that announcement we just we heard. It goes: Farewell, bloodstained hospital. All these sins are yours, so that I might escape this purgatory."

"What's a purgatory?" Yata asked.

"It's the name of a location in Dante's Divine Comedy, but in this case it's likely referring to the hospital." Munakata answered. "The Divine Comedy is an epic poem in three parts- Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The writing we saw at the entrance is from the poem as well."

"I don't get it." Yata scrunched his nose before sitting on the ground.

Munakata chuckled before adding, "In the Divine Comedy, Purgatory is for souls that commited the sins of pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, or lust."

"Oh. The seven deadly sins, right?" Yata looked up at Munakata. "So what does that have anything to do with the game?" He turned to Kamamoto. "I didn't finish the game."

"Uhhh. I don't know... but the guy in the game was doing experiments at the hospital for the military to create zombies and stuff." Kamamoto scratched his nape. "He loses his memory, but while you explore the hospital you find his jourmals and notes and stuff, and it starts to come back..."

"His zombie research, human experimentation..." Kusanagi pondered.

"Let's look around the room first. We might find something more." Awashima suggested. "Move fast."

"Right!" The young red clansmen answered, forgetting their grudges. They all ran off to different parts of the room, and began looking desperately for anything that might give them the hint they needed.

 _'I can't find anything.'_ Yata thought. The books and stuffs are all fake, and the computers won't even turn on. He grabbed a drawer, expecting it to be fake too, and was surprised when it opened. "Ah!"

"What is it?" Kuroh turned to Yata.

"There's notebook here! It says 'Research Notes'!" Yata picked uo the blue notebook as everyone crowded in around him. "It's got five of these pieces of colored paper stuck in it..." He opened it, and found a page full of scribbled notes with one word circled in what looked like blood.

"Whoa! What the heck... This is creepy." Eric mumbled.

"It looks like  every page with a piece of colored paper had a word circled on it." Kuroh said as Yata continued to flip through the pages.

"Yeah." Yata continued to scan the notebook then placed it on top of the desk after. "Jealousy, fury, neglect, indulgence, seduction... Man, this guy knew how to have fun, huh?"

"Maybe all the horrible stuff he had to do drove him crazy." Kamamoto said.

"... Wait." Yata suddenly paused. "It feels like I've heard them before."

"Of course, you have." Fushimi said as he picked up the notebook. "They are synonymous to the seven deadly sins."

"Fushimi-kun is correct. Jealousy, fury, neglect, indulgence, seduction... Envy, wrath, sloth, gluttony, and lust. They match up." Munakata explained to Yata.

"Oh... but we're missing pride and greed." Kamamoto said.

"..." Fushimi turned to the bomb then back to the notebook. "... The colors of the pieces of paper match the wires connected to the bomb." He said when he noticed that five of the wires matched the colors of the bookmarks; white, yellow, green, purple and gray.

Yata went beside Fushimi and snatched the notebook. "You're right!" He said, looking back and forth the notebook and bomb.

"I think we've got it." Kusanagi nodded before continuing. "There are seven wires on the bomb but only five colored bookmarks. We're missing the red and the blue. If we match them up with the sins, we're missing pride and greed."

"Then..." Awashima shifted her weight on her right foot. "We can assume the red and blue wires correspond to pride and greed."

"Does that mean that if we cut those two, the timer'll stop?" Kamamoto looked hopeful as he asked the question.

"No." Kusanagi shook his head. "We don't know that."  
  
"I agree." Kuroh said. "All we know is that those wires aren't mentioned in the journal." He paused then turned to Eric. "How much time do we have left?"  
  
"Six minutes." Eric promptly answered.  
  
"Damn." Yata banged his fist on the desk. "We need to figure this out now!"  
  
"There has to be something more here..." Fushimi mumbled as he once again scanned the room.  
  
The ticking clock was making everyone frantic and quickly lose focus.  
  
"Maybe there's something in that announcement that we missed, or something else we've missed." Awashima said as she paced around.  
  
_'The announcement.'_  Kuroh closed his eyes to think of it more.  _'Farewell, bloodstained hospital. All these sins are yours, so that I might escape this purgatory... Purgatory... All these sins...'_  "Hey." He called their attention. "What do you think of the 'All these sins' from the announcement?"  
  
"Ah!" An idea seemed to have struck Kamamoto. "It has to mean that we're supposed to cut it 'all the sins' in the journal!"  
  
"That what I also thought." Kuroh nodded.  
  
"Well... that makes sense." Kusanagi paused. "Unless anyone disagrees?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." Yata said while Eric just nodded.  
  
"That has to be it." Awashima said. Munakata and Fushimi remained silent and did nothing to disagree.  
  
"Alright, those five wires it is." Kusanagi nodded before picking up the clippers. There were four minutes left on the clock. Slowly and carefully, he cut each wire, avoiding the red and blue ones. "This is the last one." With a snap, the clippers cut through the yellow wire.  
  
"What?" Yata's eyes widened. "Why isn't it stopping?!" The time was still counting down.  
  
"We're still here, which means we haven't failed the game." Munakata said.  
  
Kuroh peered at the bomb. "Does that mean one of the remaining wires need to be cut too?"  
  
"O-Oh man!" Kamamoto cupped the top of his head with his hands. "How're we supposed to figure it this one out?"  
  
"We've got a 50-50 chance of getting it right, versus a 100 percent chance if we wait for it to blow up." Awashima tried to say it as calm as possible.  
  
"Cut the blue one!" Yata yelled. "My gut says that that's the one! If one stays, then it's obviously going to be the red one. Gimme those, Kusanagi-san." He lunged forward to take the clippers from the older man.  
  
"Wait!" Kusanagi raised the clippers high, out of Yata's reach. "Think about it calmly, Yata-chan. I don't think your gut had anything to do with your deci-"  
  
"I think he's right." Fushimi said, cutting off Kusanagi.  
  
 "Huh?"  
  
"The color of the journal is blue." Fushimi raised the said journal. "The journal contains a record of the atrocities of its writer. It contains his sins. That's why I also think that the blue one should be cut."  
  
"Argh! Goddamn it!" Yata took the clippers when Kusanagi lowered his hand. "It's the blue one, right?!" He asked before walking towards the bomb, no one stopped him. He reached for the blue wire- "Here I go." He looked at the others one last time and they all nodded! Yata held the clippers up to the wire, squeezed the grip, and cut it.  
  
"... Nothing happened." Kamamoto looked around while Yata put the clippers down.  
  
"It stopped at five seconds." Yata breathed in relief. Smiles started to break out when- "Holy fuck! It count down again!" The timer started to count down again as if it was merely waiting for more when the blue wire was cut, and before they knew it, the numbers hit zero.  
  
 "Stage 3, failed." The announcement blared through the speakers, hitting them like a punch to the stomach.  
  
"We need to get out of here!" Kuroh yelled.  
  
"That's easy to say, but...!" Kamamoto tripped on his feet then bumped into a nearby bookshelf. The bookshelf suddenly slid into the wall and moved to the right, revealing a door. "Whoa!"  
  
"That way!" Kusanagi and the others ran for the door as fast as they could. "Go! Just go!" He continued to yell as they ran through a dark hallway.  
  
"Where's Eric?!" Yata yelled as he searched for the blond. He looked back and saw Eric at the back, quickly being left behind. He spun and ran to Eric, grabbing his arm and dragging him to run faster.  
  
Suddenly, they heard an explosion behind them. Yata gripped Eric's arm tighter and threw him forward with all his might past the others. Not even a second later, a shock wave hit, throwing Yata forward. Smoke instantly filled the hallway, and he stumbled forward, blinded. Another explosion roared through the air. A shock wave slammed into his body, lifting him in the air and slamming him back to the ground. His consciousness winked out.

* * *

  
"-saki! Misaki! Wake up!" A familiar voice repeatedly called Yata's name. Whoever it was, he was definitely worried and deep in his mind, Yata knows whom that voice belongs to.  
  
Yata's eyes fluttered open. "... Saru?" He said weakly but was enough for Fushimi to sigh in relief.  
  
Yata pushed himself up, feeling pain on his back and side. After successfully sitting up, he gripped his side and saw blood decorating his white shirt. 'So I somehow seemed to have escaped the explosion.' He turned around and saw that the hospital was reduced to a smoking crater. He saw that the others were sitting nearby looking battered. Kusanagi was grimacing and holding a hand to his shoulder seeming to have been injured again or reopened his wound. But... there were missing people.  
  
"Kamamoto... Kamamoto's not here... And Eric too..." He said, looking around in case he just missed them.  
  
"The blond kid already escaped this place." Fushimi told Yata after he stood up.  
  
"What about Kamamoto?"  
  
Fushimi looked down straight into Yata's eyes and said, "Missing. Lieutenant searched for him but didn't find him."  
  
"What? How could that happen? He was running with you guys!" Yata tried to stand up but failed miserably. "I bet she didn't search hard enough. Like Blue scums would actually be willing to help us."  
  
Fushimi only looked down at him.  
  
"Yata-chan." Yata turned and saw Kusanagi walking towards them. "I know you're worried about Kamamoto, so as I. You've been friends since childhood so of course you'd be worried. I also know that you don't like the Blues but Seri-chan really did search for him. Yatogami and even Munakata helped." Kusanagi didn't say it but Yata knew that the older man was waiting for those words.  
  
And Kusanagi sure knows how to make someone feel guilty. "I'm sorry." Yata said. "I'm just worried. I don't want to lose another friend." He bit down his lower lip.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll look for him." Kusanagi crouched down and laid a reassuring hand on Yata's head instead of his shoulder which was littered with scratches.  
  
"M-Me too!" He exclaimed then winced when he stretched his burned back. How ironic, he uses a fire-like aura and here he was, back burned.  
  
"You need to rest. You're back is hurt badly."  
  
"You're also hurt, Kusanagi-san!"  
  
"I'm in a better condition than you. Seri-chan said she'll help."  
  
Yata turned to the woman who nodded at him.  
  
The next voice they heard was one they would have been happy to never hear again. "Whaaaat?!?! You all survived?!?!" Sukuna childishly screeched as the screen on a nearby statue flicked to life.  
  
"But one of them seems to be missing." Yukari placed a slender finger on his chin. "The tall, dark and handsome one."  
  
Sukuna narrowed his eyes, as if he was counting them. "You're right! I hope he's dead!" He cheered while Yata glared at him. "Don't you agree, Nagare? That was a good explosion after all!"  
  
"Yes, it was indeed a good explosion." Nagare nodded. "I'll be sure to give extra points to those who set up the explosives."  
  
"Well, were only checking on you guys." Sukuna grinned. "And we're hoping for the best. You too should say your prayers. You won't be lucky next time!" He cackled before the screen went off.  
  
"Damn it." Yata felt his hands balling into fists, digging his fingers on the dirt in the process. They were beyond exhausted. They weren't able to stop the bomb, and Kamamoto had disappeared. They didn't know if... if he's still alive. Yata wasn't sure how long they stayed there before Kusanagi suggested they go get something to eat.  
  
They didn't feel very hungry but they needed to eat if they want to search for Kamamoto and beat the game. They lumbered their feet and headed in the direction of the restaurant.  
  
"Might as well get something in our stomachs." Kuroh said as they entered the restaurant. "We'll need it tomorrow."  
  
They'd all ordered and began eating. Dinner was quiet, unlike the night before, but it was hardly surprising. One of their companions had gone missing after all. Kuroh looked around the table. Everyone's expression was dark and gloomy, especially the Red clan's.  
  
They finished their meals, and split up to go look for Kamamoto before the hotel docked. But no one came back with results as they met back at the dock.  
  
"We should resume the search tomorrow. We need to get rest, you especially." Awashima said Kusanagi who told the others that they will break off from the group now to search.  
  
"Awashima-kun is right, Kusanagi." Munakata added. "It's best to search in the daylight."  
  
"I agree with them, Kusanagi-san." Yata said. "You also need to treat your wounds."  
  
"Alright." Kusanagi sighed as he gave in. With heavy hearts, they ended their search and headed into the hotel.  
  
Everyone looked exhausted. They shared some short good nights, then headed for their rooms.

* * *

  
The moment Yata closed the door, he quickly grabbed an underwear and shorts from the closet then headed to the bathroom. He removed his tattered shirt and turned his back to the mirror to assess his wounds. He breathed in relief when he saw that it wasn't badly burned. It was only red but was littered with cuts and scratches probably caused by flying debris and after being repeatedly slammed on the ground. He removed the rest of his clothing and twisted the shower on, water mixed with blood from his back and side slid down his body. He moaned when he felt the cold water soothe the heat on his back and tired body. But he couldn't seem to get his thought straight, even forgetting the pain he was feeling on his side. He took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down. Feeling himself calm down, he continued cleaning his body.  
  
Yata quickly finished his shower and went out wearing only shorts when someone knocked on the door. He opened it and saw someone holding a first aid kit.

* * *

  
Fushimi stood alone on the hallway, torn between going or not. There's nothing wrong with wanting to visit when Yata clearly expressed that he wanted to be friends again, was what his mind was trying to say to him but his stupid pride was getting in the way... He can just say that his Captain ordered him to check on Yata, which wasn't a lie. Right. That's it. Making up his mind with a sigh, he walked towards Yata's room and was about to reach for the door when it suddenly opened.  
  
A woman wearing a black helmet stood before Fushimi, holding the doorknob on her right hand and a first aid kit on the left. She bowed at Fushimi who stepped aside when she stepped out of the room.  
  
Fushimi entered the room and saw Yata sitting on the bed, bandages showing under his black tank top. "She helped you?" He asked as he closed the door behind him.  
  
"Yeah. She's good. Only here to help her brother gain points." Yata answered as he laid on his stomach while Fushimi sat on the foot side of the bed.  
  
"Captain asked me to check on you. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Like shit." Yata burrowed his face on the pillow.  
  
"You also look shit." A pillow flew into Fushimi's face after he finished his sentence. He looked at Yata who craned his neck to glare at him. Fushimi picked up the pillow and threw it on Yata's back.  
  
"What the fuck?!" I'm injured, you shitty Saru!" He flopped back, face first, on his pillow. "... I hope they find Kamamoto."  
  
Silence.  
  
"I can't afford to lose another friend. Not after Totsuka-san and Mikoto-san... Not after you."  
  
Fushimi stared at Yata for few seconds. "They'll find him. HOMRA scums like you are like bugs after all." He said and acted like he'll leave when Yata stopped him.  
  
"Stay." Yata said without lifting his head from the pillow. "Stay for the night. Even just for tonight, let's pretend that everything is okay between us."  
  
And Fushimi sat back on the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, there was a traitor but I don't think any of the K characters will betray anyone at this point. Fushimi? Please. Give the poor kid a break. X'D
> 
> Who do you think is this man Kusanagi wants Eric to tell about this game? Not like I'll admit who's this person is. XD
> 
> And I'm pretty sure that the last puzzle was easy but hey, I need some good KA-BOOM!! here. Haha.
> 
> Anyway, I don't know when will I update again. I'll have to start studying for my licensure examination on September. Sooo, I guess it'll be around October? Pretty long break, huh? But that's it. Sorry. Hope you'll bear with me since you guys managed to wait for almost two months. Thanks! :D

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for any grammatical and typographical error.  
> I might update whenever I have free time.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
